Elucidation

Aisha woke up after probably the best sleep she had had in her entire life. She felt… light, and relaxed. She was so warm too, and it felt so good, rubbing against something so soft, so squishy, so firmly wrapped around herself. It made her feel safe, feel warm... loved.

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It felt so good to be loved again.

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Aisha's eyes shot open. Fuck! What was wrong with her! What was wrong with this woman!? Forcing her to sleep with her, and then- then- hugging her like this! Cuddling her so softly, holding holding her firmly, as if- as if- as if she actually cared about her!

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Dammit! It was all a ploy! A part of her act, to try and trick Aisha! She was just hugging Aisha so gently, so softly, so that she could get her to... to return the hugs! Er. No. To get into Aisha's pants.

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Aisha removed herself from the embrace, and glanced down at Lorian's sleeping face, so beautiful, so cute and pure, adorned with a stupid, stupid, corny, dopey grin that wasn't cute at all- Aisha wanted to wipe it off her face.

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This woman didn't deserve to be happy. She didn't get to be happy after admitting she was a bad person. It was supposed to eat at her, the same way it had consumed Aisha.

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It pissed her off. How could she sleep so soundly, with that peaceful expression, when Aisha had spent thousands of nights, restless, loathing the sunrise?

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She hated that face. She hated how beautiful it was, when the girl had probably put no effort in. She hated how slender her body was, despite having no sign of any athletic capability. She hated how well-proportioned she was, how beautiful those eyes were, how happy she was, she should have been miserable-

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Aisha, all of a sudden, paused, all of a sudden noticing her hands, gripping her mistress's face in an attempt to force the woman's expression into a frown. Her arms trembled with exertion, though the amount of strength her malnourished frame was able to exert was pathetic at best.

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Lorian began to stir, as Aisha carefully retracted her hands, the angry heat in her face and chest subsiding, replaced with a bitter loathing.

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"Why did I do that?" She mumbled to herself, the sensation of Lorian's soft cheeks lingering in her palms. "What's wrong with me?"

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"What was that?" Lorian muttered groggily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, in a wide, stretching motion. "Come back to bed… it's not time to get up yet…"

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Lorian playfully stretched her arms out and pouted, inviting Aisha to come back into bed and return to peaceful slumber. Aisha decided to not take the offer, forcefully grabbing her clothes, exiting the bedroom, all the while being watched by half-lidded, warm, brown eyes.

She reached the main room, and continued to clean the kitchen, taking a cloth and wiping down Lorian's dusty countertops. After 30 minutes, Lorian exited the bedroom as well, still undressed. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

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"Hey, so today I need you to buy a few things from the town… I don't usually use a lot of parchment, so we're going to need that, and we're running low on teleport crystals...."

She pulled out a torn piece of brown parchment from in between her cleavage. She handed it to Aisha.

"Everything we need is on the list. I hope you can read it."

"How am I supposed to get to town?"

"You telepo- oh."

Lorian thought for a bit, and her lazy expression soon turned into a despaired look.

"Let me get dressed..."

Lorian almost wanted to cry as she slid on her pants and shirt, staring at the bed longingly.

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Soon the girls were walking down into the forest, down the little hill that Lorian's house sat on. Aisha squinted at the first real sunlight that she had been exposed to in weeks.

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"So, how did you end up as a slave?" Lorian asked, turning towards Aisha.

"..."

"You know, usually people at least try to make conversation." She sighed. "What's the harm?"

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"I don't want to tell you." Aisha bit back scathingly. "You can force the information out of me with the slave mark if you want. But you don't. So, well, damn, huh. You aren't going to get what you want."

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Lorian thought about doing that, but she decided that even though she had succumbed to using it when needed, that her goal was still to get the girl to actually like her.

"How about this." She proposed softly. "Let's play a game! We'll trade information about ourselves. I'll tell you something about myself, and you'll tell me the same thing about yourself. Then we'll switch."

"Why would I do that?" Aisha demanded suspiciously, eye twitching in annoyance. "What's in it for me to share information with you?"

"Well," Lorian pursed her lips. "You can say more mean things about me if you know more. Maybe you'll find something you can use. Probably not though, I'm pretty good at games!"

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"Yeah, we'll see about that." Aisha mumbled.

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Internally, Lorian smiled. She didn't really mind giving Aisha as much information she wanted. In truth, all she really wanted was to have a conversation, so just playing was good enough for her.

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It was kind of cute how eager the girl was to get a leg up on her. It proved that, even if her life was all screwed up, there was still something she wanted, something she was proud of, something she wanted to prove...

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"Okay, I'll start then!" Lorian said, smiling cheekily.

"Why do you start?" Aisha asked, her voice almost offended. "I-"

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"Because I said so. Hehe." Lorian laughed childishly. "You're better at word games, so it's only fair."

"Fair?" Aisha mumbled. "What would you know... fuck you... whatever."

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Lorian sensed that she had hit a sore spot with the girl. Her voice softened slightly, although she tried hard to not let it show, lest she offend Aisha.

"My name is Lorian Izec." She said flatly. "That's my first... fact."

"..."

"Now you say, ' my name is Aisha…' "

She looked expectantly at the girl, who was still staring blankly ahead.

"I don't have a last name." Aisha mumbled. "Fey do not use them. We are all born of the wood, we don't have parents."

"Really?" Lorian asked softly. "Then wh-"

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"It's my turn now." Aisha interrupted aggressively. "I was in the cells because I was captured by hunters. They abducted me from the outskirts of the feywood, looking for rare game. They found it."

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Lorian winced at Aisha's words, not expecting to answer something so incriminating so soon. The worst part was that Aisha really hadn't told her anything that she didn't already know or could have just guessed, but the reason that Lorian had been shopping...

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"I needed a maid." Lorian mumbled.

"You're lying."

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Chills ran down Lorian's spine as Aisha's gaze began to train on her, icy and calculating. Rigel was right, it was really unsettling, to look into those eyes, and see no movement, in an almost inhuman...

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Lorian narrowed her eyes, feeling a bit of her own childish competitiveness flare up. How could she be scared of such a stupid little brat? If she wanted to, she could easily pick the girl up by the armpits and-

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"You're not a hume." Aisha deduced. "You're... something stronger... something that would need a life. A demon."

"...Yeah, whatever." Lorian huffed. "Fine. I was there because I need to feed off another hume. I couldn't feed off Kasha forever, so, well, I picked you. Because you were cute."

"You picked poorly." Aisha said icily. "I don't have a soul. Or even any... meat...."

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"That's not what I need from you." Lorian sighed. "It's a different type of energy. It's not arcane or elemental... you have it, you give it off just by living..."

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Aisha was silent for a second, before answering.

"You picked poorly anyways."

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An uncomfortable silence passed.

"You can't tell anyone." Lorian whispered, a bit of worry leaking into her voice, but Aisha could only scoff, narrowing her eyes.

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"Who am I going to tell?"

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The girls finished their walk in silence. Soon they reached the town, filled with smooth, dark grey buildings. Two guards met them, dressed in plated black armor, with goggled helmets and glowing rifles. They recognized Lorian, but stopped Aisha.

"Who is this?"

"Oh, she's my… friend."

"Your friend has an active slave mark on her neck."

"I, u-uh.. s-she."

Lorian stuttered, panicking. She had forgotten... that slavery was illegal.

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The guards looked at each other and nodded. Lorian was a nice girl, and always was friendly to them. It also didn't look like the slave was in distress either. She just kind of... sat there. Looking creepy.

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"Go on ahead. Cause no trouble. Make sure to cover up the mark."

Lorian's expression slowly relaxed. She smiled brightly at the two guards.

"Thank you so much! Lushien! Varis!"

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She hugged both guards, who returned the gesture. They held their hands out for Aisha to shake, but she just walked by, ignoring the outstretched hands. The two guards watched the girls' retreating backs as they headed into the town, and put back on their helmets.

"You think I should ask her on a date?"

"Don't do that. She's obviously not interested."

"What about the other one?"

"Don't ask another person's slave ou-"

"No, I mean… she was weird right. Why would the Lorian buy her?"

"Maybe she took pity on the thing."

"Mmm. Maybe."

Soon the two girls reached the center of the town. A fountain, pulsing with blue energy, spewed out water, which drained into the ground, to be sent to all the buildings in the town.

"I have to go to the university now. Stay safe!" She said, starting to walk away.

She waved to Aisha, who did not wave back.

She looked down at the piece of paper in her hand, and began to walk aimlessly, searching for a pattern in the buildings' numbers to find her destination. She walked for a while, turning a corner and bumping into a large man, dressed in leather armor and a helmet.

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"Hey! Watch where you're going, fey dog!"

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Aisha ignored him, walking along.

"Maybe if you weren't wearing that helmet you could see where you were walking." She muttered, under her breath, but loudly enough for the man to hear her.

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The man turned around angrily.

"What was that?"

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The man's friend put his hand on his shoulder.

"She's not worth it. She's just some Fey dreg."

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The offended man scoffed, turning around.

"Whatever."

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Aisha felt a sick surge of satisfaction at the man's sad attempt at getting the last word. So predicable, so stupid...

"Loser."

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Aisha ducked pre-emptively to dodge the wild swing that the man threw at her. She attempted to throw a punch at the man's throat, but her fist stopped a foot from the man's body, stopped by an invisible barrier. She hissed in pain as she held her fist, knuckles bruised. Her body was still so weak...

(The damn shield!)

Aisha was blown back by a strong gust of wind, knocking her onto her back. Her head hit the ground, ringing. She groaned, a foot planting itself on her chest.

"Bitch." The soldier spat.

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Aisha could have said any number of things in that moment. She could have apologized. She could have called out. She could have stayed silent.

"...Fuck you."

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Her vision went white as the man stomped as hard as he could on her chest. She coughed up blood, as an intense pain flashed through her body. Her breathing came out labored as the man's friend rushed over, preventing a second stomp.

"What are you doing!? You fucking killed it! We have to get out of here!"

"Tch. It's not as if she'll be missed. She's just some slave."

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Aisha continued to cough up blood as the two men left. She could feel her conscience leaving her, as she struggled to draw in breath, but failed, years of deterioration rendering her body pitifully weak. Pain erupted in her chest as her senses went into overdrive, trying to find a way to stay alive, but failing.

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Aisha would have laughed, if her body could muster up any energy. She was going to die here. Just like that. At the passing whim of some random human, who wouldn't even face any reprecussions for the action.

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That was how much her life was worth. A reprimand. Nobody would miss her. Nobody from her childhood would even know.

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What was even the point of such a pitiful life? Being born, to have other people constantly taking care of her, pouring attention and effort into... nothing. Into an existence that culminated into a discarded body on a street. Even the soldier that had killed her, would probably live a more significant existence, making friends, fighting for something... something that was forever out of her reach.

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A small voice whispered, one that was usually inaudible, in the back of her mind. But now, at the end, when nothing mattered...

(You could have done better.)

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The bitterness returned, full force. She was forced to agree. Yes, if she had really tried, she could have, at the very least, been better than someone who would just murder a girl on the street out of rage.

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(But you weren't. You didn't try, at all.)

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(...)

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(I wonder... what it would be like, if I was stronger.)

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(I could have... made something of myself. I could have... beat that guy. I wouldn't be... dying here.)

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(It's no use wondering.) A deeper, more rational part of her mind reasoned.

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(You're dead now. You're dead... now. Finally... free from this cursed existence.)

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(You're going to be free... leave everything behind. Disappear. I can... spite the world... prove the elders wrong... in the next life.)

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(You're not getting a next life. You don't have a soul.) The rational voice spoke again.

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(You're going to die, and nothing will be left of you. You don't get another chance.)

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(I don't get another chance.)

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(I wasted the one I had.)

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(The elders were right. That soldier was right. I am just a dreg.)

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Aisha's eyes began to tear up. Why had it been like this? Why couldn't - why couldn't she have just been normal? Lived a life full of experiences, connected with people, before settling down?

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If she had just been born with a soul... she could have lived... even with her mistress... she could have been happy with that...

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The small voice returned.

(You could have. Even without a soul. You could could have, even at the very end of your life. But you wasted that chance too.)

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(You threw it away.)

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(Every.)

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(Single.)

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(One.)

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(I don't want to die.)

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(Someone save me, please... I want another chance...)

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(I promise I won't waste it. I won't ever let it go.)

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(Please...)

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But there was nothing but blackness, as her vision began to fade. As her life began to slip away.

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The first thing to go was the pain. But it was no comfort to her. It was quite ironic, how her entire life, she had tried to avoid it, but now...

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(Please stay.) She begged. (Just a second longer. No. Please...)

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Then, her smell, as the taste of blood subsided.

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(Stop, stop... no...)

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And then her sight, as a shadow fell over her.

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And last to go was her hearing. Always her sharpest sense, it was last to go.

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"Do you want to live? Become stronger?"

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The hearing went away too, and Aisha would have screamed, if she could have. The words ignited a ghost of an ember in her heart. One that she had thought had gone out long ago. Suddenly, she felt like a child again, full of hope. Full of dreams, with determination in her chest. She wanted to say yes, so badly. The thought of where the voice came from, or if it could even fulfill the offer... none of it mattered. She just wanted to say yes.

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But it didnt matter now. She was dying. It was over. Wasn't this what she wanted?

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She tried to reach out towards the voice, but her body would not listen to her, and despite how hard she tried to lift an arm, or even twitch a finger, the only thing she could feel was the last part of her slipping away.