#pathfinder fluff

Manly, lacks manners, filthy, and slave, she often heard these words ring throughout her ears by just about every elf in the village.  Something she could easily ignore from just about anyone else, but when it came to her girlfriend saying these same words, they stung more than anything.  It was often a reminder that no one else would love her, at least not in the area they lived in.  But even those words didn't sting as much as when her girlfriend would call her stupid and mocked her intelligence.

“Oh, Mina, you know that with how dumb you are, nobody would ever find themselves loving you, yes?”  She tried to honey up these words by stroking her hair, which never worked.  “I'm the only one in the entire world that would ever accept you for who you are.  And that's because I can look past the manly features your body has, or the fact you eat with your hands, that's something that only I can look past, my dearest.”

She knew there was something bad about all of this, but she felt this really was the only option she feasibly had.  She was a slave, she belonged to them, and on top of that, the elven girl promised her freedom.  Being in this relationship really benefited her in more ways than one, because along with her freedom would come her family's freedom.

Alessa wouldn't go back on her word, Mina, the Barbarian thinks to herself, just trying her best to hang on to this situation that was entirely against her.

Yet, even in the home of the elven lords, similar stinging words were often thrown at the son of their own leader.  Half-breed, sullied, tainted, and monster, it may not have come from every elf, but it certainly came from one, the same one who often made it seem that Mina had only one person she could rely on.

“Oh, Sordnan, you will NEVER inherit what is rightfully mine.  Your blood is tainted by human blood, you'll never be what I am, pure, and powerful.”  Gloating as always, Alessa took every single second she could to rub it in his face that he was imperfect, and tainted.  Even as he washed their dishes in the kitchen, there was no gratefulness in this elf.

“I don't want to inherit this 'illegal empire.'  After all, what you're doing is against the very elven laws themselves, if they find out, this 'empire' will crumble to the ground.”  Sordnan swiftly found the words to retort with, he wasn't going to let her have this without a fight.

As always, it was daggers that she stared back with, she knew what she would “inherit” wasn't by any means legal at all.  She knew one day he was going to tell someone, which is why they often kept him locked up in the mansion, guards on him at all times.  They were never going to let him get the opportunity to say anything, and that meant killing him if they had to.

“Tell me, when are you going to tell Mina the truth, Alessa?  About how you're using her, the physical, back-breaking labor you're putting her through is not what she deserves at all.  I chose to stay out of it for so long, but the more I see it, the more I realize I have to tell her.  I know for a fact you won't, so what that means is that I do.”  He was tired of it all, he was tired of his half-sister's insistence on using her, the Barbarian woman deserved so much better than she was given.

“Is that so, brother?  And how exactly are you going to do that, hmm?”  The smirk on her face said it all, she knew the cards were in her favor.  She knew that “the house always wins.”  What could he do to reveal any of this?

While this was occurring, the Barbarian was given a note from one of her fellow slaves.  Unfolding it, the words “Come to the mansion, I want to speak with you,” were written neatly on the square piece of paper.  Her through process had her assume it was from her then girlfriend, and excitedly she quickly began to run over.  The good news was good news in the end, and this was something she wanted to hear.

“I don't know, Alessa, but you're late to a meeting with the rest of the noble blood aren't you?  Shouldn't you be heading off to that?”  Already tired of her, he folded his arms across his chest, his body language saying it all.

“Of course, dear brother, after all, us pure blood should be talking to each other, no?”  Flipping her hair over her shoulders, she'd make her way on out.  Tired of her half-brother as much as he was of her.

That was when Mina arrived, her girlfriend already out and the half-elf left behind to talk to her, she was, of course, confused.  What did this guy want?  She barely saw him at all, and when she tried to talk to him before he was quiet.  His pretty boy face didn't make things better, and she just couldn't wait until she had a chance to punch him.

“Hello, Mina, thank you for responding to my message.”  He was rather blunt about it.

“Your message?  Shit, I thought it was from Alessa.  Look, I barely talk to you as it is, so make this quick.”  Mina already tapped her foot impatiently, she was not in the mood for this.

“Then I'll make it quick, she's lying to you.”

There was an awkward pause afterward, Mina quickly went from calm to furious with those few seconds, and effortlessly lifted Sordnan off the ground.  Animalistic growls flew out of her mouth, she was not in the mood to hear something like that.

“And what makes you right, huh?!  How do you know she's lying to me?!  Why should I believe you?!”  Mina had to hold herself back from repeatedly slamming the smaller elf against the wall repeatedly, this was the angriest she had been in a long time.

“You said it yourself, we barely talk, we barely even know each other, but you and I both know Alessa.  You've been there when she calls me half-breed, tainted, and lesser than dirt.  You should know as well as I do that I'm in no position to lie, especially when this slavery deal is illegal in every other elven province.”  Though he was easily able to mask it, he was scared.  Absolutely terrified of the human's near demi-god like strength.  But he knew she had to find out about this eventually.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S ILLEGAL IN EVERY OTHER ELVEN PROVINCE?!  THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT!”  Her face exploded with these angry words, she was livid.  It didn't matter whether he was right or wrong, either way, this wasn't going to quell her anger.

“An emancipation law was passed several decades ago, the other elven provinces have no more slaves.  This practice, although still alive in this province, is punishable by the death of their leader.”  He began to shake, he knew if she didn't believe this he was dead.

“SHE… SHE LIED TO ME?!”  If he was lying to her, he was pretty damn good at it because she believed it all.  There was no way he'd risk his own skin against her if he was lying.  She let go of him and marched right off.

“Where are you going?”  Dusting himself off, Sordnan asked the musclebound barbarian.  He couldn't help but be curious.

“I'm going to punish this entire colony of elves, keeping my family hostage here is definitely going to give them something worse in their hands.”  Squeezing her fists and grinding her teeth, Mina's anger was already boiling over.  “They're losing the most important thing to them.”

Whatever she planned on doing, it wasn't his problem anymore.  He got the truth out there for her, and it was time he went back to his room anyways.  Walking out of the kitchen, he was greeted by the sight of the one person he did not want to see.

“You vile RAT.  You ruined EVERYTHING that I had planned, Sordnan.”  It was Alessa, not too happy whatsoever with the revelation that she eavesdropped on.  He should have known she wasn't leaving immediately, she was always spoiled, they would never punish her no matter how late she left.

What's the thing you always told yourself you wanted to be when you grew up?  A lot of people say stuff like Astronaut, Doctor, and when they got older they'd even add stuff like Lawyer to the mix didn't they?  When I was a little Tiefling, I always wanted to be a superhero, and now I know what you're probably thinking.  “Oh, she grew up and eventually decided being a superhero was dumb.”  And I got an answer for that, and it's “No.”  It wasn't easy, far from it really.  I had to give up on that career path for a bit, you know, working at a record store, it was super retail hell.  Ugh, boring right?  That was until a group of four people came.  They were an interesting group, except for their Magus, who was kind of a jerk, “kind of.”  Spying on them, I found out that they were following leads on some stuff happening nearby, and I decided that then and there was where I'd make my superhero debut!  And things have picked up ever since.

“Hey, Grandma what are you doing?”  I joked with Grandma, well her name is Juliet, and she's like some super old vampire lady which is why I called her Grandma.

“Hmm, what is it, Lucyle?” She looked up from her phone, something she was super amazed by at the moment.  Who could blame her?  She lived in The Underground and lacked so much technology down there that a flip phone would have blown her away.

“You got a second to talk, I got to talk to you about a few things.”  A few things sure was an understatement.  I mean, I just helped disable a charm spell that had control over a good friend of mine, and that was just the tip of the iceberg!

“Of course, even if I didn't, I would make time to talk to you.”  She was such a happy vampire, there was nothing that made her happier than talking to her friends it seemed.

So, I made my way towards the recliner she had taken a seat in and nearly found herself falling asleep.  She really was a granny when she wanted to be.  There was so much I wanted to tell her, about the magic, about my mission, about the superhero antics I'm going to be doing!  Today was a day I really felt like a superhero, eat it, mom and dad.  I really gave it some thought about whether or not I wanted to jump on the recliner with Grandma, but I decided against it.  I think that would have knocked her out of her chair and scared the ever living daylights out of her.  After this conversation, there was no way I would not be jamming out to the theme songs of every single superhero I could think of, and that's including non-official songs that people made on the internet.  By the Gods, I could be such a humongous dork, and I love it.

“You were here for all that mess with Mina, weren't you?”  Oh yeah, Mina, I should tell you about her.  I like to think of her as my best friend, she's a big, muscular girl that would give The Hulk a run for his money.  She usually just wore, well, rags for clothes, and had red hair that at longest, covered her eyes just barely.  She had some big issues when I was gone, you know, the charm thing I was talking about.  Apparently, she was pretty much being brainwashed into loving her once again, getting her to be a little violent with Joey, and even breaking down when they told her she died.  The thing is, when I took care of that, she went back to her old self and, ah, well, I'll tell you about it when I tell Juliet.

“Ah, yes I was here but, I just didn't want to get involved, you know?”  The old Granny looks to the side, and for once, she looks ashamed.  “It just, didn't seem like it was something I should really get involved in.  They were so angry at each other and it's something I haven't seen in so long.”

Yikes!  I didn't know she was feeling this way or I would have just started off with telling her about what I did.  I mean, I just thought she was like, 'Oh dearie me, it was a big mess and I just wanted to knit my quilt.'

“Haha, yeah,” I chime in awkwardly, “Look, I got you some good news!  I fixed it all!”  The most triumphant of my poses is struck.

“Oh, really?  Did you really?”  And just like that, her mood does a complete 180, and I'm the happiest Tiefling in the world.  “Goodness gracious, I didn't think we'd have that solved so soon!”

“Yeah, it's nothing too big Grandma.  I just worked my magic, saved a few lives, and...”  I stop for a second, something inside of me just sorta feels funky.  You know like, when you're nervous when stepping in front of a group of people for a presentation.  Or those butterflies in your stomach when you're in front of your crush or something, that came in but in like, a good way.  “You know, no, it may not have saved a few lives but, it was the right thing to do wasn't it?  I mean, a real hero wouldn't use this as some sort of bragging rights or anything, they'd use this as the start of something big, you know?  The kind of stuff that Superman would do, you know?  Like when he flew back to that little girl's house just to get her the stuffed rabbit she left behind, you know?  It just leaves me all tingly inside and I just, really like it.  It really gives me something to look forward to and I think that I won't even stop there.”

There was just something about that feeling, that feeling of accomplishment was probably the best I've felt all week, maybe even all year.  I really wish that I had my domino mask on me, I would have put that and my cape on to just add flare!  Or I could just be humble about it, accept what I got and be super happy with it.

“You see, Juliet, I had gone down there because...” I paused for a second, why did I go down there to begin with again, after a few moments of recollection I continue, “I went down there because Mina didn't deserve to wallow in her misery alone.  They warned me not to, Moriko even pulled me back the first time and you know, I just, I couldn't leave her by herself.  She really needed someone to be there for her, and sure that was all just something that was being amplified, she still didn't deserve to be by herself.  If I didn't do that, who knows how long it would have taken to fix this entire mess up.  I'm glad I went down to help her, Grandma.  If I could I'd do it again.”

Grandma just sat there and politely listened to me, she was really good at doing that, making sure you had someone to sit there and listen to your problems or your stories and seem interested.  I knew I kept this up for way too long and I had to cut it short somehow.

“I um, thanks for listening Granny, you're the best, you know?”  I give my biggest smile to her, she always loves when people smile.  “I'll let you have your rest now.”

Before I could get up, the flash on her phone goes off, that sly girl took a picture of me!  A huge smile on her own, she'd laugh for a few moments, before showing off the picture to me.  She looked so happy when she showed it to me, and you know, it's just the nicest things to be around friends that are happy like this.  When we get Rogen and George back, I'm gonna help to make them happy too, and that's a promise.

“Heh, send me that picture later will you?”  I leave after gently patting her shoulder, she's such a kind old soul.  “Hmm, what song should I listen to first, oh I know Aaaalllwaaayys we will fight as one, until the battle's won wiiiith evil on the ruuuunn, we'll never come undone!”

They wake me up once again, earlier than yesterday, what time is it? There is no clock in the room they place me, nor anywhere in this prison, it's to prevent us from slacking off or feeling even more fatigued than usual.  The room is the same as always, a mattress too firm for anyone to find comfortable, even harder than the floor of the mansion, a sink, if you can even call it that, and a toilet. This place was already in shambles before I became a prisoner of the subterranean elves, it became worse after my first escape attempt. They learned they learned that the iron chains they originally used could not bind me and had to use enchanted ones.  They learned that I could not be placed with other prisoners who would attempt to harm me, so they assigned me an abandoned part of the mine to work on, and they learned quickly how much more intelligent I was than the average tower of a man, so they assigned me to be a part of the singles competition that they're holding.  A way to crown their new king it seems, its annual, though, so you can imagine what happens to the king after a year.

“Ifrit, is time to come out now.”  The guard's shaking voice echoes throughout my new chamber, he's still nervous after the first day.  I nearly sundered his helmet the first time we met, and I would do it again if these chains didn't bind me so well.

I don't reply, I stay silent as I climb out of the bed that is far too small, my joints ache from the lack of rest they give us, but I'll learn to adapt.  I am an Ifrit, after all, an Ifrit who has been through much worse than this.  My first thoughts of the day go towards my friends, I wonder if they saved Rogen yet, he should be their number one priority.  Rogen should be enjoying freedom at this moment, having the sun beam down onto his face, enjoying the company of friends, smiling as he would any other day.  Every day before the break-in by Daniel Brandon, a day I replay constantly when I shut my eyes, thinking about how I could have done things better.  How if not for the intelligence dampener, I could have at least stalled for more time.  If I ever see Natalia again, I want to thank her for her help, she allowed me to see the world as I did once before.

“We do not have all day, Ifrit, hurry up and get out of the cell.”  A little more backbone in his voice now, impressive, the enchantment really has given him confidence.  When I step towards the door, it opens automatically with a loud squeak, it was annoying the first day and it's incredibly annoying now.

I do wonder I she'll achieve her goal in the near future, or if she'll have to continue that in the next life.  Would she remember her friends that she made in this, would there be a sense of comradery between the group and her in her next life?  I ponder these sometimes, as I ponder how long Moriko will live for.  The Kitsune have rather large lifespans after all, she could very well outlive everyone in the group and then some, aside from Juliet that is.  I ponder these because, I wonder if they think about me.  Do they think about what I did?  Do they hate me for what I did to Arthur?  Are they disappointed?  Do they think I've betrayed them?  I only did that so that this battle I fight would not drag them in too.  So they do not feel the obligation to help me any longer because ultimately I want them to be safe from her grasp.  Stepping out into the metal infused mine, the scent of copper encases us all, I continue to think about my friends.

“You will dig more tunnel today, give you strong back, Ifrit,”  the same guard instructs me, in the same way, he did the very first day, “Must have strong body and mind for Matriarch.”

The same tournament Joey Jojo and Moriko signed up for.  If they see me, will they be angry?  Will Joey Jojo have no remorse harming me?  If I harm him, I could not stop myself from feeling bad.  Even if I am no longer his friend, he is still mine.  The same thought rings true about Moriko, is she upset with me?  Does she no longer care about me as a friend?  At this point, I remember Mina's words once more.

“George, how could you abandon our family?  If you just step back in they'll forgive you!  Arthur might take a while, but everyone else might understand if you explain things to them!”  Her angry voice still makes my ears ring.  Despite being human, she has the powerful voice of an Ifrit, and I commend her for it.  “I'm tired of people leaving me, George.  Please, don't leave me too.  You're a good friend of mine and a good friend of everyone here!”

She seemed hurt, and while there was more to her speech, those are what I take away from our conversation.  I wish things didn't have to be the way they are, and I hope that Mina is right and they do forgive me.

“Ready, Ifrit, go!”  The whip cracks across my back, the same place as yesterday, and although it stings the same way it did, I have still not accustomed to it.

Perhaps this is what I need, I think to myself as I go through my repetitive slave labor, this is my penance.

Because, even if my friends have all forgiven me for my actions, even if I were to explain what the Crimson Monster forced me to do in my own realm and they told me that none of it was my fault.  That even if it were, they have already forgiven me, even with the forgiveness of everyone in that group, I still have one problem.