I Give In, Your Words Ease Me

"Hey, wake up Cerulean."

Fang opened his eyes slowly. His body felt warm as his head rested on something soft and fabric-like. After going through the master-servant contract, he felt a type of fatigue like no other.

"Oh wow, you're actually awake this time. I didn't think you'd wake up for maybe another hour."

A soothing voice had suddenly filled Fang's ears.

As Fang opened his eyes more, what seemed to be a blurry face came into view above him. He couldn't make out who it was, but it didn't matter. What was happening right now was something he didn't want to end anytime soon.

"How was your sleep?" The soothing voice asked.

Fang, still more than half asleep, took a second before finally responding to the question.

"I'm uhh... Doing fine..." He said, his words slurring.

"Very good, I like that answer," the soothing voice said. "Do you like how your head feels on my lap, Cerulean?"

"Yeaaah I dooooo... Dya' mind telling me whooo... ya' might beeee... Ms. Goddesssss?"

"Shh, quiet Cerulean," the soothing voice said. "Everything is all right now. Just relax and ease your body."

Fang began to loosen up his body. He felt a strange sense of comfort from the voice. His mouth opened slightly, allowing drool to escape and run down his chin.

"Awww, look at you wanting to feed me your saliva again," the soothing voice said as if she was smiling.

"Feed the goddess saliva?" Fang thought.

Something suddenly clicked in Fang's head. He began putting pieces of his memory together like a puzzle. "Saliva? Me just waking up? A weird girl who wanted me to be their servant? The person calling me by just 'Cerulean?' Whose lap am I laying on exactly?" Fang opened his eyes wide open, desperately hoping it wasn't whom he thought it was.

As Fang looked up, he spotted a beautiful white-haired Salika looking down at him with her squinty purple eyes, smiling from ear to ear. It was already evening and he found himself outside of his cage, laying on her lap.

What felt like electricity traveled throughout Fang's entire body. His head and torso reacted first making him quickly sit up. The next parts of his body to react were his hands and feet, which he used to lift himself off the ground. Fang then turned his body a full 180 degrees as he was standing up to look at Salika.

Salika's large smile was suddenly gone—her eyes opened wide showing her purple iris surrounded by white.

Something about Salika's expression gave Fang a bad feeling. His first thought upon seeing this was to run. Run VERY fast and far away.

Once Fang had stood up fully, he tightened the muscles in his thighs and calves. He bent his knees and pressed his foot into the stone pavement and launched himself away. Thanks to his Cerulean genes, he quickly darted himself away.

"Something about her... I have to run, now!"

Fang looked around and noticed a small crowd of civilians looking at him from a distance.

"Were they watching me and Salika this whole time-"

THUD!

As Fang ran, he suddenly ran into an invisible wall like a cartoon character.

"That's what you get for trying to escape," Salika said, her voice now monotone. "You almost embarrassed me in front of all those people too, y'know?"

Fang sat on the ground before shaking off the pain. He leaned his head forward and noticed a blue-tinted screen.

"I had to put a barrier around us because the guards were becoming fussy about me releasing you and holding you. It also seems to have served a second purpose of making sure you can't escape."

"Get away from the monster this instant!" Shouted a guard from outside the barrier. The guard and two others began swinging their swords against the barrier, trying to break it.

Salika began approaching closer and closer to Fang. "Look at all of those people, they cry monster but aren't afraid to get near and watch it. Idiots if you asked me."

Fang turned his head to his right and looked at all the different people spectating. Kids, adults, elders, and guards had their eyes fixated on him like a zoo animal.

"But, I know that you are no monster like these townsfolk say you are," Salika said. She was now in front of Fang. "I have an idea on what you've been through. I can help you, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't treat me like other people who've met you."

She bent down slightly and stuck her small hand out.

"Take my hand—or don't. You can live the rest of your life in that cage, or you can come with me and serve me in the Kratian capital."

Fang looked at Salika's hand. It was a difficult decision for him to make. All his life he had been outcasted and unwanted, but all of a sudden someone wanted him. Taking her offer could mean even more trouble in his life, or could mean a new start.

"So, what's your choice?" Salika asked, opening and closing her small hand repeatedly. "Will you take the hand of your so-called goddess?"

Fang let out a deep breath. He stood up on his own in front of Salika and looked down at her dead in the eyes. "It's not like I have a choice anyway."

Salika kept her hand out as she maintained eye contact with Fang the entire time.

Fang grabbed Salika's hand and shook it firmly. The eloquence of Salika's words was able to solidify his decision.

"I'll be under your care starting today, Salika," Fang proclaimed.

Salika's eyes squinted shut as she smiled smugly. "Those are the words I like to hear from you. But it's also not like you had a choice. The contract had already been made when the rings became a part of you."

She showed Fang the back of her hand. There were intertwined rings branded on her.

"Yeah, I thought so," Fang sighed. "It was reassuring to hear your words though, I guess."

A random realization came to Fang's head, causing him to blank out of reality. Did she ever ask for my name before making me her servant?

Salika chopped Fang's head. "Mind out of the clouds, Fang."

Fang took a step back, hitting the barrier accidentally again. He rubbed his head.

"Wait, how do you already know my name-"

Salika chuckled. "As I said before, I'm capable of many extraordinary things that you couldn't even fathom."

"Is that so...?" Fang said, his voice quivering.

He still had a weird feeling about Salika, mainly due to how she acted when she was trying to form the master-servant contract, and when she woke him up after said contract.

"So, what now?" Fang asked, standing awkwardly. "What's my job as your servant?"

"Let's not get too hasty. I still wish to get to know you better. After all, today was our first day as master and servant, as well as the day of our fateful encounter."

"You probably already know all about me if you knew my name beforehand, don't you?" Fang said.

Salika moved her long snow-white skirt up slightly and lowered herself onto the stone pavement. "It's more complex than that, young Fang."

"Young Fang?" Fang said, confused. "And why are you sitting back down on the ground?"

"Because I'm older than you, I can call you 'young fang,'" Salika responded. "Now come sit too, we're going to take this time to better acquaint ourselves with each other."

Fang hesitated but eventually sat down. He leaned back on his arms as he sat down, waiting for Salika to start the conversation.

Fang changed his gaze to his surroundings. It wasn't until now that he realized what kind of place he was in. The town square where he lived as a prisoner was a lot more spacious than he had previously thought and was surrounded by many different shops and big signs. Just behind his cage was an exceptionally large building being constructed that read 'Guild Hall.'

Fang looked back at Salika and a confused look appeared on his face. He watched as she forcibly squinted her eyes at him. Her eyebrows were scrunched as if trying to solve a mystery.

"Fourteen," Salika said abruptly. "Young Fang is Fourteen years old."

"I'm not fourteen years old," Fang replied.

Salika's face went back to normal. "How much was I off by then?"

"One year," Fang replied.

"Young Fang is thirteen years old then," Salika said confidently.

"Wrong."

"Twelve."

"I said you were off by one year-"

"Eleven."

"Are you listening to me-"

"Ten."

"I'm fifteen!" Fang snapped.

"Tsk," Salika clicked, annoyed. "Seems as though we're the same age... Fifteen it is then..."

Fang put his hand on his face and cringed at her idiocy.

The crowd suddenly became louder and louder. The civilians were shouting and screaming at Fang and Salika, cursing and saying nasty things.

"Monster lover!" Shouted one civilian.

"Put that damn monster back before it kills you and the rest of us!" Shouted another.

"The crowd is getting louder, don't you think?" Fang asked.

"It seems so... At this rate we can't have a normal conversation to get to know each other," Salika said.

She stood up and patted down her skirt, ridding the dirt that was collected from sitting on the ground. She put her arms in the air and stretched, letting out a yawn. Fang followed along and got up as well.

Salika suddenly locked arms with Fang and stood side by side with him. She pulled Fang closer to her causing him to tense up.

"What's wrong?" Salika asked.

"I don't know... The way you act toward me just feels weird," Fang admitted. "Everyone I've ever met until now has treated me like dirt, so for you to be so nice is unfamiliar territory for me."

"As long as you're with me you don't have to worry about that anymore," Salika said, holding on to him tighter.

Fang did his best to accept what she said and forced an awkward smile out. It was definitely going to take some getting used to.

Salika took a quick glance at the crowd before looking back at Fang. "Let's get out of here, the crowd is becoming even more unpleasant."

"Hold it right there!"

The sudden voice caught the attention of both Fang and Salika. The voice erupted from outside the barrier and was so loud that it overpowered the voices of the other civilians. The two of them watched as the civilians outside the barrier turned their backs and quickly made way for what was coming.

"You, get away from the monster and state who you are, now!" The voice shouted.

A bear-like beast with a tight harness around its body and large shackles on each of its ankles suddenly appeared and began approaching the barrier. The beast, although resembling a bear, had significantly more muscle mass making it appear larger. It had exceptionally thick black fur and a mane. Its large exposed canines looked nearly identical to a saber tooth tiger. Just behind the beast was a long and hairless feline-like tail that swayed and hovered in the air.

Salika unlinked her arm from Fang's.

Riding on top of the beast and making a grand appearance was a middle-aged man who decorated himself with multiple layers of luxurious clothing and jewelry from head to toe. He was holding the reins on the beast. His large balding head was bright and as red as a tomato, most likely caused by his rage.

"I thought he went out of town this morning on a business trip..." Salika mumbled under her breath.

"The town's lord is here to see us it seems..."