Merna Hours after leaving the dining room, my stomach started to hurt so much that I felt as if I was going to be sick. I pounded on the door hoping someone would hear me. Clenching my abdomen, “I need a bucket!” I yell with no reply. I pounded again holding my hand over my mouth as bile roused up into my throat. “I am going to be sick, I need a bucket!” I screamed as the urge to be sick became more pronounced. A male voice yelled back at me, “not my problem!” ‘You insufferable prick!’ I hissed in my mind. With one hand on my gut and the other over my mouth, I found my way back to the bed of furs. I lay down in the fetal position trying to calm myself. Slowly breathing in and out, I thought of flowers, rivers, anything nature-wise to calm myself down. If there was anything I hated more it was being sick. I do not know how long I rolled back and forth, covering my mouth when needed. A bucket materialized beside me. Without a second thought, I grabbed it and let the contents of my gut fall into the bucket. Three more times I repeated this action before I flopped myself to the furs and passed out from exhaustion. ‘It only gets worse before it gets better!’ The Master’s voice was in my head. ‘Eating will take away the pain!’ ‘I thought you said the pain is like the food, an illusion!’ I linked back to the Master. I had never felt hunger pain before, this was something new for me. A part of me knew that I was going to suffer a great deal before things got better. The little voice in my head told me that I just had to endure this a bit longer and soon things will be better without me having to eat. I just had to get through this! I heard the unlocking of the door and its opening, and light footsteps came towards me. I chose to keep my eyes closed though the individual would have known I was awake by now. “Get up, it!” This female hissed at me. No sooner had I fallen asleep than there was a female standing over me shaking me violently awake. I rolled over to my side, not paying her any attention. “GET UP, IT!” She screamed at me as she slapped me with full force across my head. That was enough to get my attention!I pushed myself off the furs. Standing in front of her I balled my right hand into a fist getting ready to punch her in the face. By nature, I am not a violent person. I would rather talk out a situation, though, with the lack of sleep and not feeling well, I woke up and chose violence. The female glared at me, “The Master has instructed us to bathe you and get you ready for his arrival.” With that, she did not say anything else to me. “Come!” Turning on her heels she exited the room, expecting me to follow her. Clenching my teeth, ‘Do I look like a bloody dog to you?’ I thought to myself. I unclenched my fists and followed her. Until I could find a way out of this situation, I had to play along with whatever they threw my way. I was led down the hallway that brought me to this location. At the end of the hall, if I had turned east it would have taken me to the dining room. West was the way this female had taken me. A short walk and we turned right. This room was large, in the middle was a swimming pool full of steaming water. The walls and ceiling were the same as the dining room. Over to my right two females were clothed, one had a towel while the other had garments. Glancing at the water I could see five other females and one male in the water, glaring at me as I followed my guide. Getting near the edge, three females started to roughly take off my clothing. I tried to protest stating that I could do this by myself, but they would not listen and continued to take the dress, bra and underwear off. They were aiming to take the amulet off of my neck when it zapped the female. Holding her hand close to her face to inspect her fingertips, “It, zapped me!” The female screeched. “My name is Merna not it, do not try to dehumanize me by your antics, I know you are more civilised than that!” My rage was building. This place had an effect on me that I was only familiar with when I astral projected. One of the females glared at the one that had guided me here, “it, speaks without being spoken too!” I could see the male slowly moving towards me from my peripheral vision. The female that had guided me, prepared herself to strike me while the females that were in the water started to laugh out loud. In my mind, I pictured the female unable to move. All I did was smirk when the female could not move, freezing her movements. “My name is Merna, you might not want to forget this when addressing me! I will not respond to anything else but my birth name.”“A name, gives others power over you, you might want to remember that.” The female that had been holding the garments spoke coldly to me. “Get to know your enemy's defences first before you start to attack!” I glared at the female in the eyes. The electricity surrounding my body was starting to build as every sense was heightened. I knew I was in a dangerous location, and they meant me ill will. “You dare to look at me human born scum!” She readied herself to attack. With her hand high above her head. Just like the other time, I was able to freeze her from moving. Motionless she could not move but her eyes, I allowed that much. I opened and closed my hands, hissing, “mage, human born, Greece origin, correct Eraris! Correct me if I am wrong!” I waited with a grin on my face, “oh that is right you can’t move. Even as a mage you are pathetic!” My words were venomous. That is when all the laughter from those at the other end of the pool stopped. The male was in the centre of the pool with his jaw dropped. They might have labelled me as a hybrid, but they still looked at me as if I was an ordinary human born. Ill-mannered, uneducated low-level being! I may be just a child in this realm, but even I know that only the strong will survive this harsh reality. If I was going to make it out alive, I had to have my protection up at all costs and beat them at their games. I stepped into the water expecting my skin to boil off, surprisingly it was the perfect temperature for my skin. Everyone was watching me, I paid them no attention while I bathed myself. I knew that they were talking, and I drowned out what it was that they had been speaking about. I had finished washing my genitals, then my armpits. I started to wash my hair when my mind started to slip and the two females that I had made into living statues started to move. The first sentence spoken to me, “The Master will hear about your defiance, then you will be sorry!” Eraris shrieked. I turned to Eraris, dipping my head backwards into the water, “what makes you think he does not already know.” I rinsed out the remaining soap. “There is not much that goes on around here that the Master does not find out about!” Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish out of water. I dunked myself under the water, coming up I heard the female that had led me here say something along the lines that I would be punished. “He can not punish me …” I glared at her, “I did nothing wrong!” I hissed. “Do not mistake me for a fool!” Eraris crossed her arms in front of herself, “you could have fooled me, bottom feeder!” The female who for the most part just stood there with her eyes wide open at the whole scene and spoke up finally, “The Master will know how to deal with an isolant parasite like yourself!” I studied her, my skills bubbling at the surface of my skin. She was human born, with no real skills in protecting herself from my seeing eyes. “Your birth name was Hadriana, born 1122, Rome.” I looked over at the last female, “Fae, working your way up the ranks, you are known as Jasmine.” I motioned my fingers threw my hair to make sure that the soap was all gone. I narrowed my eyes on Jasmine while I got out of the water, “pain only lasts for so long, death is inevitable for all living organisms … the hardest thing to ever do is to live!” My tone was low and threatening. Out of all of the individuals in this room, Jasmine was the only threat to me. Jasmine might be a lower-ranking fae, yet she would have been trained from birth on how to use her power. And she had power! A wise fighter never reveals what they are capable of doing. They will always leave their enemy wondering what it is they can do. I just announced that I had skills, and they benefited me a great deal. I was not someone who was easily going to go down without a fight. Jasmine’s eyes had a flash of light in them, it lasted only a few seconds but it was enough for me to notice. “The Master is heading this way, we need to get you ready.” She hissed with an evil grin. “Now we will see who is smiling after he finishes with you!” Getting out of the water, a serf ran over to dry me, taking the towel from her hands. I completed the task on my own while keeping my sight on Jasmine. There is a pecking order here, as far as they all were concerned I was at the bottom. Here for their amusement. They knew just as well as I did, the second that my back was turned that was when they would attack. Knowing the Master was coming, the females tried to get me dressed. I disagreed with them dressing me, but in the end, they allowed me to finish dressing myself. The dress was the same style and fabric as the one I had on before. I walked over to the vanity table that was along the wall. There were five in total. This told me that this location was used by everyone who lived there. I started to brush my hair when it was snatched out of my hands by Hadriana. “The Master is only a few feet away from here. If he sees you brushing your hair, we are the ones that get punished. You might like pain but I do not!” She hissed the last part. I knew full well this act was only to save her hide. I had to think quickly, do I keep up with this rebellion and take the chance we are all punished or let this female do her task. “Why is Merna not ready for me!” The Master roared, causing everyone in the room to bow their heads. I stood up, taking one step in his direction. “We had a disagreement which wasted time. For future reference, I am fully capable of bathing and dressing myself, I am not disabled.”The Master’s nose wrinkled, “why is she not fully dressed?” That is when I realized that Eraris was holding a forest green dress that I was to be wearing over the top of the white garment. Thinking quickly, “I did not want to ruin such delicate fabric with my wet hair. I was saving it for last … until my hair was in a simple braid.” Smoke was coming out of the Master's nose. I smiled sweaty, “things would move a lot faster if you would stop asking questions and allow me to finish up.” I kept my tone neutral yet my words were direct and to the point. I sat down back in the chair, glaring daggers at Hadriana. I waited for Hadriana to place a simple braid in my hair. I was hoping she had enough intelligence to understand what I had been talking about. “Well!” The Master roared, causing the females all to jump. He was glaring at Hadriana to finish what I had wanted. This situation may have placed me at a disadvantage or it could have put everyone in their place. Only time would tell me which way this was going to go in the future. Hadriana rushed to finish my hair. She let out the air from her lungs once she was done. Eraris was waiting for me to stand up and slip the dress over my head and onto my body. Last for me to put on was the footwear. The whole time this was going on the Master and I were having a stare-down, neither of us willing to break eye contact. Only when the dress was over my head did I get the chance to close my eyes! Which I was thankful for. I was positive that if it had continued another second I was going to lose. The Master materialized a thick shawl which Jasmine took from his hands and wrapped around my shoulders. “Let’s go!” He said as he walked towards the exit. Nearing the exit Jasmine grasped my upper arm, “you think you might have saved us from the Master's punishment.” She hissed, “on your part this only showed your weakness!” She let go of my upper arm. I glared at her, “I did not do this for you, I did it for me!” I kept my voice low so that only she could hear me, “I am getting out of here one way or another!”