"Hey kid, you awake?" A voice slipped into her dreams, Seline turned to look for who was talking to her. It was dark but a dim light was flittering about, the image of a lightning bug appeared in her mind as she blinked with confusion.

She glanced upwards, the only light in the damp cave was a hole above her. The moon just barely peaked through, and she frowned, the groggy thought of the bug slipping through the hole to say hi.

"Hey, um, wait can you even hear me?" The voice drifted quietly in the air once more, Serine tilted her head and her ears flopped curiously. "You can, right?" Her eyes moved around the dim cave. She wasn't the only resident of this den of depravity. Though the other prisoners simply hung limp from their chains. Whether unconscious, dead, or sleeping she didn't know. But if she couldn't find who was speaking, that left her in a state of confusion and unease.

"U-um, yeah I can hear you." She responded hesitantly, the lightning bug jumped about excitedly and for a moment she thought maybe she was talking to it. . . But that was too crazy an idea so she shook her head of the thought. "Where are you?" She asked, her confidence creeped up as she wasn't feeling any danger.

"I'm right in front of you silly." The voice brushed against her ears once more. Soft, quiet, the voice seemed almost fragile.

"Umm, I'm sorry it's dark so I can't really see." Serine lamented that she was probably still asleep or at least hallucinating from her exhaustion.

"Oh, man that's unfortunate. But it's ok as long as you can hear me. I haven't talked to someone in so long. I've been sleeping, can I stay and talk?" The voice seemed to get excited, getting a bit stronger as the lightning bug zipped around.

"Um sure. . . " Serine replied in slight confusion, but she also felt a sense of relief and a bit of happiness to not be alone in this place.

"Oh that's wonderful! My mom told me that when I woke up I would find someone like you. But I always thought I'd have to go looking but here you are. . . Umm well you're admittedly not in the best position huh." The voice was excited but as it seemed to ponder her actual situation it grew a bit somber.

"Yeah, not the best huh?" Serine responded dejectedly, pulling her wrist forward with a clanking sound from the chains.

"Um, yeah. . . Ooh I know, hey get this you're currently in a grave! Isn't that cool." The voice got excited again, but Serine only looked worse at the mention.

"Yeah, I know. My own." She couldn't help but glance at the Corpse near her, a sense of dread and fear assaulted her as it entered her vision. She shivered and looked away just as the voice coughed nervously.

"Ah, uh. . . Dang it I'm not good at this. That's kinda not what I meant um. . . No this is my grave. I was killed here. . ." The voice petered off, she got the sense of someone looking away with embarrassment.

"What? Wait wait wait, did you say you died here. What does that mean?" Serine asked with confusion, her eyes locked onto the lightning bug and as she squinted she realized it wasn't a bug but a floating ball of light.

"Um well, I think it means what I said. I was killed here. In this cave, though that was a long time ago. This cave used to be my home." The voice sounded wistful for a moment before coming back happily. "But that has nothing to do with you. Most of my kind died in various unmarked caves. It's easy to kill someone who's sleeping, such a long sleep."

"Um, I probably won't be good company. Besides I won't be here very long." Serine replied, letting the ghost down with a sad smile.

"Oh, that's ok you can take me with you when you leave. That's what I meant when I said I was looking for you. You're special, my kind can link with your special soul." The orb of light fluttered around with excitement once more.

"No, I um, won't be leaving. I'll probably be dead within a few days or at the very least permanently unconscious." Serine explained carefully, she felt that the ghost she was talking to was young.

"Oh. . . Do you know what death is like?" The voice asked suddenly, an ominous feeling climbed her neck and caused her hair to prickle. She carefully shook her head, swallowing her saliva. "It's a shock, especially if you're sleeping. Cause you suddenly get really cold and then you realize you're staring at your own corpse. Watching the sword stabbed into your heart be removed. Watching as they mutilate your corpse and use its pieces to make armor and trophies. . . Death forces you to watch what comes next then you fall asleep till someone wakes you again." The voice was serious as it described it's own murder, but soon it stopped. Taking a pause in the middle the orb suddenly got brighter. "But it's ok now cause I found you, the person who woke me, who can hear me. You can use me and my power that's what makes you special."

"I can use you, are you saying I'm a spirit mage?" Serine frowned as she searched her memories for the different mage types. A spirit mage is a special and rare mage similar to a fairy mage. They use spirit magic, basically they are capable of using the spirits of an element. Based on the color, this spirit was probably a spirit of light. "Hey um, what's your name?"

"My name is Feréyaki, but you can call me Feré. What's your name?" The Orb zipped around her excitedly.

"Serine, that's my name." She replied, a soft smile found its way onto her face.

"Serine, I see, that's a lovely name for my contractor I approve." The voice sounded happy, and Serine was glad for the distraction. Soon enough though she was brought back to reality and she couldn't help but think negatively.

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I can't lose hope, I must hold onto my head. She thought, resolving herself, she looked around her. The entrance had metal jail-like bars fastened to the cavern entrance. There were other female corpses, as well as some that were still alive, well technically. There was a human girl across from her. The girl looked about twenty and was laying on the ground, no chains bound her, but Serine could tell she didn't need them. The girl's head lay in a puddle of saliva that dripped from the woman's mouth. Her eyes were dim and lifeless, they stared pointlessly at the wall. Serine noticed that the other girls were in varying states of lifelessness, they all wore basically no clothes. There was only one girl who was even remotely conscious, she was panting, and her eyes darting everywhere. She held her arms close to her body, trying to cover herself. Her eyes were consumed by a mixture of hate and fear.

Serine tried to speak to the girl, but she was unresponsive. She finally let her muscles relax a bit, there wasn't anything near her that could help, she'd have to wait for something to change.

A loud thud echoed in the room, Serine looked up, the metal barred door had been shoved open by a large man. He made his way towards the nervous girl, her eyes widened as she saw him.

"No! No! Please!" she screamed out as she struggled, but she was ignored, Serine gritted her teeth as she looked away. A loud thud rang out, drawing her attention once more, The boss had punched the girl across the cheek. She was silent now, a surprised look as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She went limp and he dragged her from the cavern.

"Oh my. . . I get it now, I see they've really turned my home into something disgusting huh. Humans never cease to amaze in the worst ways." Feré spoke up, a hint of anger in his voice. "I wish I could help you more than just be a companion, but sadly to use my power you need to contract me. You don't have the mana or knowledge to do that though. You need a teacher, but you won't find that here." He was dejected, soon falling silent once more. Serine didn't respond to him.

Serine tried to get comfortable as her body told her it was time to sleep, she could lay down, but the ground was cold and hard, there was also something wet beneath her that she didn't want to know the identity of.

Around the time she'd just about gotten to sleep the screaming started, Serine pressed her hands against her ears, but she could still hear someone begging to die. I'm scared, I don't wanna end up like that. She thought fearfully.

"You won't, I'll protect you. If it comes to it I'll protect your mind. . . If you let me, I can force myself into a contract with you. . . However I'll fall into slumber again we'll both be trapped in your subconscious." Feré paused for a moment but her look of confusion made him explain a bit more. "You'll become lifeless like the others here, but unlike them. You'll simply be hibernating, it's the best I can do. Then we just have to hope someone comes along and senses your potential, someone could awaken your mana from the outside and wake you from your hibernation."

"What about you?" Serine asked, realizing he didn't say that he'd be able to wake again.

"Um, I think I'll be able to wake up one day. . . " Though he said it would be ok Feré seemed uncertain at best. "But in the meantime you should sleep, I'll wake you if it's needed ok." As he spoke he glowed brighter for a moment and it suddenly got really quiet.

With the cave now quiet, the darkness, and her already massive exhaustion she couldn't help but slip into sleep.

By morning the girl was just as lifeless as the others. Serine began to wonder if dying in that ditch, beneath the thorns would have been better than what was to come. Though for the first week she actually got lucky, the boss seemed to not be interested in her yet. They'd captured a lot from the slave caravan, maybe he was saving her for last.

~

Bang!

Serine looked up, startled as the large hulk of a man known as Spike, looked right at her. He was the boss of the bandits. She felt her chest clench and fear rise up as he strode towards her.

Feré flittered around her aggressively, his words tickling her ears like a soft whisper. He always sounded like he was right next to her.

"Hey, he's coming right for us! Damn does this mean our time is up?" He flickered back and forth with his light growing. "I could kill him, it would take all my mana. . ."

"Don't, you'll disappeared and I'll be alone with the other bandits. . . Stay with me I'm scared." Serine whispered, fear deep in her words.

"Argh, damnit, I want to protect you. You're so important, you don't even realize. . . Ok, I'm not going anywhere. But I will protect you if I must." Feré explained as Spike stopped in front of her and looked down with a disgusting smile.

"Why." She couldn't stop her throat, the words slipped out and were answered by joyous laughter.

"What's that? What do you expect to hear huh? Some profound speech of my troubled past. What reason does a man need to chase his desires. . . Especially when he has the strength to do so." Spike leaned down and licked her cheek, a slimy wet tongue dragged against her skin. Then with a satisfied smirk he unlocked her chains and snatched her up. She didn't resist, it would be pointless

She was dragged to his room, it was messy, the sheets tossed aside. There was a naked girl lying against the wall. Blood dripped down from her forehead and her eyes stared off into nowhere.

"Ah, don't look at her. She broke a little too fast and I got angry. . . The bitch deserved it." Spike spoke with a little bit of mockery as he tossed her onto the bed.

She was assaulted by the smell first, she could clearly pick out sweat, urine, and a few scents she didn't recognize. She felt disgust just having her skin touch the bed, but that was washed away as he climbed on top of her and ripped at her clothes. It was at that moment, a bright light exploded in her vision and she covered her eyes.

"Hey hey, what are you doing?" A voice reached her ears and she looked up. There was a young girl looking at her, Amber colored eyes, floppy brown ears and shaggy brown hair.

"Huh? I um, I was. . . I can't remember. . ." She shuffled her feet and the sound of water greeted her. Shallow, only reaching her ankles but it was black and inky, she felt she could fall into it and disappear.

"What's your name?" The girl stepped forward and pressed her hand in the air between them, the glass intercepted it.

"Oh, my name is. . . Is. . . Wait who am I? Who are you?" She began to panic, stepping forward and pressing on the glass, she realized her hands were identical to the girl. The girl in the mirror.

"Hey. . . It's gonna be ok. . . I'll be here with you, even if eternity faces us." That foreign face spoke with her unfamiliar lips. A glowing light hovering around it's shoulder..

"I'm sorry." A voice spoke from elsewhere with a sadness lingering among the words.

"What are you apologizing for?" As she asked, the girl in the mirror began to fade and the sound of water filled her ears as the dark inky liquid began to rise.

"You have to survive, you're a pillar of the very world itself. Chosen by the world tree to continue my race's lineage. So go to sleep, I will protect your mind. One day you'll awaken and be able to do your duty once more. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for my contractor." The orb of light flickered around her as the water rose, it's shape morphing ever so slightly to reveal a lizard-like shape with wings. Red reptilian eyes blinked open. "I will protect you, the promise of a dragon is eternal."

Those were the last words she heard as her head sunk beneath the water, her consciousness faded and time seemed to disappear.