Mastal torture ships are half-myth and half what people say they are. I never met any survivors, but they all say the same thing. Nothing. I lean more toward the myth side, personally. You have to, if you're a local on Elissa Moon. That's how we do it.

Lenoa – My First Diary

I was taken to a ship in orbit. I found myself awake in an elevator again and for a split second the nightmare wasn't apparent to me. The two soldiers had my hands bound and my feet were bound at the ankles. We were led to the ship's main hall and I could tell it wasn't that big. The glow of red was pierced by black metal and the slight flickering of a broken wire. The hollow clanks of the soldiers ahead of me were heard on the metal floors and I could see the floor beneath me through the gap that was being repaired. A sharp pain overtook me. I was being tugged along by my hair and I tried to numb out their laughter as I hopped forward like an idiot.

The Mastals kept laughing until I reached the end of the hallway. I was thrown into a cell on the left, still haunted by the silence around me. It was like everyone in the room had given up on ever speaking. They were prisoners like me. The ground was cold and hard and the painful bench knocked the air out of me. I was thrown into it.

“I hope you hop like that when we take you from behind,” mocked one of the soldiers. He pointed and the door and pretended to hump it like it was me. His sexual jeers made me boil in hatred and fear. Part of me wanted to curse Kaloas. He better have a plan. I wasn't on the better end of it. I want to say I have bad luck, but yeah. I could say pretty much anything at this point. Thanks a lot Kaloas. I looked around me and tried to move around. I felt like crying, but that would make noise and Kaloas told me to stay quiet. Why? Why couldn't he just explain his stupid Shasi poem for once.

The water pipe by the floor was trickling. It was like a toilet, sink, and drinking fountain all in one. I looked at the rusted grate and then up at the ceiling. More cameras and I could hear the low hum of being on ship. I was probably still in orbit around Elissa moon, but who knew here I would end up. This was one of the Mastals' torture ships. It was out of reach. The Shasis used to attack the prisoner camps and free us. Over time the Mastals became wise to it.

A loud bang startles me. I hopped toward the window to take a look. Someone was crying and screaming at the same time. The soldiers were shouting. The sounds moved closer until they arrived at my door. A soldier knocked lightly on the door dressed in the heavy plating. I held my breath as it opened. A Mastal stood in front of me. An actual Mastal, not just one of their soldiers. The room felt more isolating by his presence. He started saying things I couldn't make out, then moved closer. I could tell by his facial expressions his joy increased with my fear. I hopped myself back against the wall and he laughed and spoke in a language I didn't know. Finally he spoke to me in my language.

“You locals. Killing each other over money,” he smiled.

The Mayor's suitcase and money was dropped next to me. I tried to find something to say, but I just stayed quiet. He kicked it up against my body as if he wanted me to have it.

“I believe this belongs to you. I wanted to return it. To you....”

The Mastal motions to the soldiers to stand outside. I never knew why people were so scared of Mastals. Even my mom had conned one and taught me not to be afraid. Now, that I was in the presence of one, I could only live in fear. It's more than the heaviness of their armor, or the sharp edges of their décor. It's like holding your hand to close to a fire. You're brave to its warmth until it burns into you and your sleeve is on fire. The fire grows out of control.

The Mastal leans close to me.

“Tell me. What do you know of these prophecies...these fairy tales,” he states.

I do my best to not say anything.

All I really knew was what everyone on Elissa Moon knew growing up. They knew of the fairy tales and I wasn't sure what the Mastal was trying to do. Surely someone would have told him about the fairy tales the Shasi gave us. Hello? Did the Mastals never hear of an archive? It's spelled like public in all caps, but it sounds like archive. A traitor or some overpaid idiot could even explain it better than me. This was just a mind game I hoped. I had no satisfactory answer.

The Mastal started nodding. His armored hand pats the suitcase impatiently.

“You're a good person Lenoa Nylanis. I know you killed the mayor, but you were doing what was right and...noble. Tell me, what you know. I just want listen. I won't hurt you. I want to learn from you. If you have nothing I want, trust me, I'll let you go with your suitcase. No one will rape or touch you. I have more important things to do than hurt a local like you. I just want your....simple cooperation. One time.”

I swallowed as the Mastal took a seat next to me on the floor. I could tell he was irritated, but patient and calculating. Finally he leaned close and looked me in the eyes and I saw pure coldness.

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“You are so quiet. So am I. It's peaceful. Especially for this ship. I hate the shouting you know. I don't like when anyone suffers – even animals. I can....still hear their pain.”

I already knew what shouting Mastal was talking about. It was the other prisoners. I felt his threatening words were growing louder in my ears even as he let the time pass. If he didn't speak my language with such an off accent, I would have been completely scared. I was just as scared of laughing at his inconsistencies as I was of speaking.

The Mastal got back on his feet and pushed his soldiers out of the way. An even longer silence overtook the room and his dark presence left my cell. The Mastal waits right outside my door, until I hear others across the hallway being tortured. It was as if all the torture on the ship was on a schedule and the Mastal was keen with his sense of time. I hear a woman crying and screaming “not again...not again.” I hear broken voice of a man shriek and beg for another last chance. The echoes startle me.

The Mastal looks back at me wryly. His hands were scraping the door, tracing his thoughts with unnerving scrapes. The Mastal continued to stand outside my doorway contemplating. He looks at my suitcase I could tell he was aware of all I was thinking. Without warning, the Mastal slams the door in rage. His armor dents the door with a loud clank!

“Have your way with her! She's no use to me.”

The soldiers nod with a grin. The enter my cell, but suddenly stop.

“No! I don't know what's going on. I can help though!” I shout.

The Mastal turns around. He had the same grin all of them were rumored to have. It was a grin of forcing compliance. One that wasn't completed into a smile until every piece of control was put nicely in his hands. What exactly did I do? Did I fall for his potential bluff. Yeah. I'm scared so don't bother me about it...

The Mastal grabs his soldiers before tossing one of them behind him. I could feel his hatred and disregard for all those who got in his way.

“No one hurts this...Nylanis,” he states, as if to capture my attention. He moves closer before taking a seat again, making sure to move slowly to give me all the personal space I need. A holographic screen scrolls through information over the Mastal's face. He finds what he is looking for and gently hovers it to me. The moving hologram hovers in front of me.

“Let me show you a story and you tell me what you it means. You know. That's all I want to know. Then, you are free. Don't worry. You have the best chance of making it out unscathed. The others on this ship were the unlucky ones. It doesn't hurt, when I'm here.”

I swallow and nod. I was crying and just realized it. My hands were cold. I couldn't even feel the metal gloves of the Mastal touch my cheek, when he leaned closer to wipe my tears. He was close now. The fear in my heartbeats had numbed me. I could see the soldiers behind him waiting to rush in on me sadistically as I trembled. Each one wanted to be first. They were enjoying my tears. The Mastal speaks once more to me.

“Listen Lenoa Nylanis. It's part of a bed time story. I'm sure you've heard. Your..mother and father must have read it to you and told you. I know they have.”

I nod. I just kept nodding until the tears warmed my cheeks and my eyes were clear. I looked at the hologram.

Once upon our snowy moon

We watched you land, arrive too soon.

But that's ok we found new friends

The other world saw fit to send

But with you came the evil too

And we knew just the thing to do

We'd find the one companion who

Would save the one who would undo

The mountains will burst aflame with life

And end the life of metal strife

More tears ran down my face. I had no clue what this meant.

“I don't know. It's just a stupid fairy tale the Shasis made...”

The knot was growing in my throat. I felt greasy enough in my clothes to slip out and never return. My arms were numb. The only thing I could think of was the first of us. The colonies that came from the home world. Different people sent different colonists to Elissa Moon. We eventually grew up together, somewhat divided, but familiar to each other. We became locals of the planet and things were peaceful under our new nobles. There was understanding and growing prosperity on the snowy frontier. No one thought of the wars of the home world reaching our planet, but they came. When the Mastals began to overpower their Emperor, we were just figuring ourselves out – like a child growing up and not knowing what to do. The Mastals quickly became a force of their own, taking control of the space stations and ships that ruled the skies and stars. No one could threaten them, save the Neandelerians - the strongest empire on the home world. The Mastals were the dominant power and had a stranglehold on the future of all of us. Part of me wanted to pretend I was naive, but I knew what the Mastal wanted. He wanted to decipher the fairy tale. He wanted to know about the mountains and I had no idea what that meant. In fact, I wasn't even the Nylanis noble he thought I was. Like I said, my mother was a con-artist. None of it was real. I'm actually just some pathetic orphan girl named Lenoa. I don't even know my a last name. I wipe my tears. I'm pathetic. Someone help me. Please, help me. I was crying and my breath was stuttering with tightness in my jaw. I was becoming aware of how trapped I was. I prayed for the right words.

“M-mountains?” I managed to say. I began to calm myself and wipe my tears.

The Mastal was staring into me the whole time and I could tell he was waiting with excitement.

“Aren't there a lot of mountains?” I manage to say.

The Mastal gets up. It wasn't what he was looking for. Immediately, he struck me several times in the face. I don't remember what he shouted at me or his shoulders, but I could almost sense the desperation in his voice. Something was wrong and not just for me. An open wound felt numb and raw above my ear, The ringing pain on my head started to give me rushing noises. I was passing out. I felt so angry. I hated everyone and everything. I wasn't even happy to be alive or happy to avoid having any teeth knocked out by his fist. I just wanted to wake up from the nightmare by blacking out forever. I felt sick and dizzy in my own blood.

“Don't let her wake up.”

I heard the Mastal sneer again.

“Don't let her wake up without the wounds of an overused prostitute!”