The Ballad of Neo-Serenity
"..."-Portrays speech
Then, for the first time she looked around and took in her surroundings. About 200 other women about 18-29 years of age were present. They were all covered in filth and grime; some were even diseased. It was obvious they were in some kind of cell with no windows of any kind. The only source of light available was a dim, seemingly broken light on the ceiling that would short out every now and again. It was clear the Saiyans never cleaned here; after all they were slaves. Thick slime covered the walls, which made the cell wet and dank. Across from her was a heavy metal door that was way too tall and wide to be made for humans. The coughing of those around her made her clutch her arms in an attempt to calm herself.
*Dear Kami, please don't let me get sick. But on the other hand, if I die I would be released from this hell.* Serenity spent the next twenty minutes clutching her empty stomach that gnawed at her for food. As if on cue, the heavy door squeaked and two Saiyans came in. They were your classic Saiyans about 7 feet tall, with black eyes, and wild black hair. The one on the right held four food bowls, two in each hand. He began to place them in the four corners of the room and swatted the girls with his tail that clutched at his ankles for the first taste of food.
Serenity crawled for the bowl nearest to her. Her stomach growled with the promise of food. When she got there most of it was gone, but that is not what disturbed her. What was left could hardly be considered food. It was a mass of dark brown mush, mixed with something to the effect of eyeballs and animal fat. Without thinking another thought, she tried to grab a handful. Suddenly she was grabbed by her ankle and dragged away for the circle of girls. With a cry of dismay, she looked behind her. The huge Saiyan on the left had grabbed her ankle while the other put a large bowl of murky, brown water in the center of the cell.
Serenity was on the brink of starvation and she knew it, so she immediately began to fight.
The Sayian seemed unfazed by the kicks to his stomach and arms. He calmly said, "No you don't girl. You're for the Ou and if you got sick, he would have my ass."
"What are you talking about? I'm starving, leave me alone."
"Shut up", was all the Saiyan yelled before he pulled Serenity to her feet. "Get moving. We haven't got all day." As soon as Serenity got to her feet, she fell to her knees again in exhaustion.
"Shit, Sharno this bitch is in pretty bad shape."
"Don't worry Jax, all she needs is a good washing, some food on her belly, and some sleep." Jax realized he would have to carry her and slung Serenity over his shoulder.
"I hope you're right, she is a weakling after all. She got lots of bruises too." Sharno shrugged and looked bored.
"Well, then we'll just have to have one of the slaves take of them." Jax rushed out of the door with Sharno following close behind, locking the metal door behind him.
Serenity heart swelled with fear. Were they going to torture her or rape her? What did their Ou have to do with this? Where were they going? It was five more minutes before she got the nerve to ask a question.
"Where are you taking me?"
The soldier called Sharno replied, "Where you can get cleaned up."
"What does your Ou want with me?" The Saiyan carrying her chuckled darkly.
"Why your body girl and your virginity if you still have it." Shocked and disbelieving what she was hearing, she ran his answer over and over in her mind. As it started to sink in, tears started to fall and her mind started to spin.
*No, Mamoru-chan was supposed to be my first and only. Kami, I just turned nineteen. I still can't geta drink at a bar and now I have to be someone's sex slave. No one should have to suffer this. No, I won't go. I won't let these people have what I cherish most. Not them or their Ou, just my Mamoru-chan.*
Serenity started to kick and scream and claw at the armor of the Saiyan below her. After giving her a hard slap on rear, Serenity knew she would be bruised. He said, "Stop struggling, it will only make things worse. And here we are."
They stopped at a sliding metal door with Saiyan writing across the top. Stepping through the door, Jax threw Serenity into the room and left. She looked around her and saw a small pool of water on the far side of the tiny room. The last thought she picked up from him was, *Better send one of those bitches to clean those cuts.*
Hino Rei sat in a dark corner of the room hugging her knees. She was in a sparsely furnished room with a desk and computer, complete with a large bed. The walls were metal and the room carried a sterile smell.
*Those bastards invaded the temple. I felt it inside me. My heart felt painfully empty and a feeling of pure dread swept over me. They killed Grandpa, Kami why did they kill Grandpa? I should have been there to protect him.*
Rei had turned 20 a few months ago and blamed herself for his death. She was stronger than her Grandpa and had the agility of youth.
*If I hadn't gone to Serenity's party, he would still be alive and I wouldn't be here. I had a terrible feeling about that day when I was mediating. How could I have been as so stupid as to ignore it?!*
Deep down inside, Rei knew that even if she had been there, she was no match for the Saiyans strength. But she wasn't willing to admit that either way, she would be in the same position; trapped and guardian less. Rei's tears had dried out last night, when that monster forced himself on her. She fought the best she could and had set his hand along with his entire arm on fire. He said he was impressed and that she was strong for a human, but that didn't stop him from beating her senseless and having his way with her. Rei's face was still sore from where he punched her repeatedly and a soreness had formed between her legs as well. But it was nothing compared to the pain in her spirit.
Rei's heart nearly popped out of her chest when Kazoto walked into the room. "What are you doing in the corner, priestess? On your feet, NOW!" Rei shakily pulled herself to her feet, but the soreness between her legs made her wince. "Come here, I got a job for you. You're not going to sit your lazy ass in here all day." Rei wobbled to him and stared angrily into his face. Kazoto watched how funny his priestess was walking and said with a smirk, "Sore are you? You'll get used to me. Soon it won't hurt at all and you'll learn to enjoy it."
Rei's face contorted with anger, "Like hell I will, you bastard." Kazoto chuckled at her behavior.
"Still haven't learned your lesson yet I see. Well I'll just have teach you some manners when you comeback. I think a good, hard spanking is in order, don't you?"
"You try and I'll make this ship go up in flames. I don't care how far we are out in space. Even if you do survive the explosion, you can't breathe in space. We'll all die together. I hate..." Rei's oxygen was cut off by a large hand wrapped around her throat.
"Watch your mouth, bitch. I'll snap your neck", Kazoto snarled. Rei could see his sharp, bared canines sparkling in the light. "Now listen up, we're going to the infirmary. You're going to get some ointment and treat another one of your Earth 'friends'. Our doctors are too busy to mess with you dirty slaves." Rei gulped and nodded as best she could.
Serenity had lowered herself into the steaming water long ago. The hot water stung her cuts and bruises horribly, but she was not willing to get out until she was completely clean. She had gotten all the dirt off her body, but her hair was still a mess. It was looking better, but not as healthy as it should. There were little bottles on the side of the tub with towels, but they had no labels. Not willing to risk washing with the wrong thing, she leaned back and decided to leave them alone for now. About 5 minutes later, Rei popped into the room followed by Kazoto. He warned her not to do anything stupid and left her alone with her friend. Serenity felt a strange sense of familiarity when she looked towards the raven-haired girl.
"Rei-chan?", she asked meekly."
"Ser-chan?" As Rei walked further into the room, both of their eyes widened.
"You're alive.", they both said in amazement. Without warning, Ser-chan jumped out out of the water, oblivious to her nakedness. Rei would usually yell at Serenity for doing something stupid like this. But she was just as happy as Ser-chan to see someone she knew alive, that she accepted her embrace openly. After a few moments of a crushing hug, Ser-chan blushed and backed away.
"Geez, Ser-chan, what happened to your hair?"
Quickly becoming offended, she replied, "Well if you had been hiding in a cave for the last few days, you wouldn't look to hot either."
"Well, lets get you some shampoo." Walking a long distance to the tub, she grabbed a bright, bluebottle. Ser-chan was close behind and slipped into the tub.
"And just how do you know which one to use? I don't want you to putin' something that will make my hair fall out."
Hino Rei was silent for a second as she sat behind Ser-chan. Then she carefully replied, "That's what he told me to put in my hair. I was just as dirty as you when I was brought here a few days ago." Turning to face Rei, Ser-chan took note of
Rei's appearance for the first time. She had black and dark blue marks all over her face. Her lip was split and she could slightly begin to see the imprint of a large hand print around Rei's throat. Feeling her eyes fill with tears, Ser-chan began to tremble. She felt Rei's pain, anger, and anxiety at the mention of Him. All of a sudden Ser-chan became nervous and allowed all the questions burning in her head to come out of her mouth.
"Who is he? What happened to your face? Why are you so afraid? Where are we? Where are we going? How long have I been here?" Rei's smile returned as she remembered Ser-chan's way. Sometimes she would be so hyper and ditzy, but smart and patient when the time was right.
"Whoa, are you going to give me a chance to answer your questions or are you going to babble all day? Turn around." Rei lathered the shampoo and started washing Ser-chan's incredibly long hair. "Now, He is the guy who brought me here. His name is Kazoto, but he wants me to call him Master. He fed me and made me clean myself up. I thought he was just...being nice. But then I found out what he really wanted." Rei became choked up with tears. Closing her eyes, she took a deep
breath and continued on. "He tried to touch me up, but...I fought really hard. But he beat me up and did it anyway." A sob shook Rei's body gently. Untangling Rei's fingers from her hair, Ser-chan turned around and held Rei as she cried. Holding on to Ser-chan, the priestess cried harder than she ever cried in her life. When her tears started to slow, Rei pulled away.
"Are you O.K. Rei?" Nodding she said, "Let's finish up, they won't give us extra time."
Resuming work on Serenity's hair, Rei sighed. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, he told me that we are going to their home planet, Vejitasei and we would be there in a week. And I'm not sure how long you've been here."
"Rei, one of the soldiers said their Ou wanted my virginity. Is that true? What's going to happen to me after that?"
"Hold your breath.", Rei said and dunked Ser-chan under the water. Pulling Ser-chan out of the water, she handed Serenity some towels. "Dry off while I get the ointments." When completely dry, Rei began to apply medicine to her cuts and rub cr�me over her bruises.
"You didn't answer me Rei-chan."
Giving a sigh, she regretfully said, "Yes, it's probably very true. What will happen? Probably the same thing that will happen to me. Have his way with you over and over and keep you until you die. One thing is certain, we'll never be free again." Serenity was shocked at Rei.
*Rei-chan was always the fighter and the belligerent one. How could she give up?*
Rei finished and help Ser-chan with her kimono. "You can't give up. We have each other. We'll..We'll.."
Rei looked Ser-chan straight into her eyes and said, "We'll what Serenity? Fight them and take control of the ship? You can barely survive a fight with me let alone them. Leave the fighting to me. I don't want you to get hurt. Let's be realistic here. This isn't a fairy tale that will end happily ever after. This isn't a nightmare that you'll just wake up from. This is reality and this very well may be the last time I ever see you, Ser-chan. I just want you to know that, you're my best friend and I love you. Don't do something stupid and die on me."
"I love you too, Rei-chan." Rei smiled and hugged Serenity, softly giving her a lingering kiss on the lips. Going to the door, Rei called for the guards. Kazoto grabbed by the arm and pulled her down the left end of the hall, while Ser-chan was pulled down the right by Jax.
