Master of Slaves

A/N: Let me as always apologize for the delayed update. I tried something new with this chapter. It is very stylized and I tried to imitate a stream of consciousness as from Squall’s POV while he is in and out of awareness. Let me know if it flows. I had a lot of fun writing it!

Master Of Slaves
By: Baby Chiba

Chapter 8: Brother’s Sleep and Death gird soundly

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All eyes were on Nida.

His eyes were on Nida.

Heavy hoofs beat against the cobblestone.

They beat against his brain.

Like a war drum.

Thud.
Thud.
Thud.

All he heard was the dull pounding against his ears.

Keeping his eyes focused became a labor.

All he could smell was the heady scent of lacerated flesh.

A groan.

Was it his?

Was it Nida’s?

The carriage jostled over a bump.

He sunk further into his seat.

Or had he been this far down to begin with?

His legs… he couldn’t feel them again.

Had Seifer slipped him something earlier that he hadn’t noticed?

No…

There it was again.

The brothers death and sleep girding his heavy head, whispering sweet distortions in his ears.

One holding a scythe,

One a blanket.

Cruel yet considerate masters… masters…

Stormy eyes turned to Seifer.

Cruel and considerate peridot eyes burned through him.

He blinked.

Suddenly there was silent calamity around him. A cacophony of movement.

His sensory systems coming and going.

Strange calloused hands were moving him.

They weren’t Seifer’s.

Seifer’s were on Nida.

He heard something to the effect of, “ take Squall inside.”

A strangled scream.
A vision of a raven-haired girl.
Rinoa.
Commands.
Ready a bath.
Medical supplies.
Food.

Something soft beneath him.

A bed.

Seifer’s?

His muscles unconsciously tensed as his stream of consciousness swam through memories of being bound to his bed.

His brain forced him into a more conscious awareness due to the conditioned rage at being in this bed.

His eyes snapped open and he arched with a sharp inhale.

When had he closed them?

He was propped up on Seifer’s plush bed against the headboard. Though Seifer was not with him, Irvine was.

The man’s violet eyes were solemnly turned away him.

Squall followed his line of vision.

Silence surrendered to sound as he witnessed through a door ajar, Seifer and Nida.

Nida,
Naked,
In a bath,
Convulsing

Seifer,
Washrag in hand,
Bloody washrag…

Howls of pain as the stinging anesthetic touched his exposed flesh.

So visceral…

The bath water tinged murky red.

The two figures danced before his eyes, wavering into colors and out of coherence.

Irvine wordlessly craned his neck to look behind him. As he followed, a scream blurred his reverie, and as his eyes reached their destination, Rinoa stood there.

She swayed elegantly but collapsed rather awkwardly.

His stormy eyes twitched as he watched in slow motion her fall from grace followed by the shrill shattering of glass tubes and medical supplies onto the floor.

At some point Seifer had stalked out from the bathroom and stood at the foot of the bed by Irvine. His lips drawn tightly. He surveyed the mess with a stern look etched across his face. Droplets of water dripped from the hem of his sleeves and shirt.

Red drops.

Drip.
Drip.
Drop.

In a whirl of color he returned to the bath chambers.

With a look that would have been considered comical Irvine scratched his head and stared down at Rinoa’s body. Gingerly he picked the unconscious servant girl from the floor and indecisively traveled across the room with her, searching for a suitable place to deposit her. Somewhere non-invasive to Seifer’s space.

A ragged moan.

Nida again?

A soothing litany of hushes.

Seifer?

A breathy curse.

Irvine?

The violet-eyed man was stooped over the strewn glass shards and was holding his finger that bled crimson.

Teetering between the dimensions beyond consciousness and sleep Squall felt his finger twitch and curl involuntarily towards his upturned palm.

And it twitched again.

Then his eyelid.

A sensation that felt like a blade had been wedged between his ribs and dug through his sides into his stomach.

The blade wrenched and twisted.

Wrench, twist, stab, twist, twist, wrench…

Hyne, please take the sensations away again…

He prayed paralysis to claim him in those moments of excruciating pain.

Reminders of his reality…

Clammy warmth touched his forehead.

He opened his eyes…when had they shut again?

Seifer’s wet hand on his forehead.

He looked up into penetratingly visceral eyes.

He heard soft groans. Too close to be coming from Nida.

They were his.

How long had he been vocal?

Was that why Seifer was now by his side?

That wet hand stroked his matted hair from his forehead.

Was his hand wet or was that his own perspiration?

His pupils dilated and Seifer’s face came into full focus.

His mouth was moving; he was speaking. So why couldn’t he hear anything?

And then the delayed sounds reached his ears.

“ Will you willingly rest?” The deep voice spoke, soft as silk.

Willingly?

Right now he was close to begging the brother sleep to steal him away.

It hit him then.

The blonde thought he would continue to resist him…

As if sleep was an entity that could be controlled…narcissistic bastard…

He felt his muscle memory work into a familiar glare.

His stern features went soft, and for a moment he saw vulnerability between the crevices of the blonde’s flesh.

Human after all…

In a blur of movement he was gone and returned with a glass tube filled with a pinkish liquid.

He held it up to Squall’s lips and tilted it into his mouth, one hand bracing his chin, much to Squall’s chagrin.

The cool liquid was soothing on his dry throat. It held a sweet aftertaste. His limbs instantaneously felt lighter and the sharp pangs of the blade eased into a dull throb at his sides.

It became a labor to hold his lids open. Against his will his vision went from a full array of color to darkness.

A concoction of sleep and potion in the water…

Willingly?

Apparently not…

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He stirred amidst his slumber and felt something warm against his back.

Groggily he separated his eyelashes.

It was dark. Night…

He was in Seifer’s room… in his bed…

His wrist involuntarily twitched…muscle memory… no bondage.

Relief…

He could move, barely.

Craning his neck to look behind him at the warmth at his back he saw Nida through foggy eyes.

The rhythmic rise and fall of the boy’s bandaged chest meant he was alive, just barely… in the realm of sleep.

It looked as if Seifer had tried to mummify him with the amount of white gauze that covered his flesh, damp white gauze, dampened with still spilling blood.

Squall laid his head upon the pillow and willed himself back into his purgatory of slumber, unwilling to deal with the impending mental on slaughter of reality, however aware of its arrival.

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Day.

Awake again.

He felt conscious anyway…more so than he had for the past few days…

He flexed his fist, feeling the blood pulsate in his fingertips for the first time in days.

A smile cracked his lips.

Just a little longer…

Out of curiosity he peered behind him to see if Nida was still breathing.

He was, and so was another body curled up behind Nida.

That of Seifer.

The ever-vigilant master and caretaker…

Probably monitoring Nida’s condition periodically out of…out of what?
Compassion?
Duty?
Civility?

He felt dizzy. Those war drums pounding in his ears again.

He beckoned sleep again; he had become skilled in the ways of calling his dear friend and foe.

Just a little longer he reminded himself…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night.

He uncurled his heavy limbs and stretched.

Nida was still sleeping soundly at his side. However the blonde was not beside the healing boy.

Slowly he sat up in bed. His robe falling off his right shoulder, the pale flesh glowing against the blue moonlight.

Stealthily he slid off the bed, landing with a silent thud of his heels against the wood floor.

He padded on unsteady legs towards the door that would lead him into the labyrinth of Seifer’s manor.

Through the murky gloom of the night he saw emerald eyes flash.

His heart lodged in his throat and he stopped, swaying ever so slightly on buckling knees.

With a catlike grace Seifer stepped out of the shadows and into a pool of moonlight before Squall.

They stood in silence for moments. A calm resignation shadowing Seifer’s face.

He had expected this…

But so had Squall…

“ It’s always gonna be sour grapes with you boy…” Seifer breathed huskily.

Squall blinked in solemn acknowledgment.

The blonde sighed softly, and then delicately pulled the fallen robe sleeve over his slave’s exposed shoulder, keeping his eyes at bay.

Squall made no move to stop or reprimand him.

Seifer stepped away from him and ambled towards the balcony windows, where the moon seemed to be perched upon his terrace.

Squall watched him in silence before his feet slowly found their way next to him.

Moonlight…

He hadn’t seen it for days since his captivity.

His slender hands cautiously touched the cold glass windowpanes.

Seifer watched him, then reached down past Squall’s fingers and unlatched the balcony doors.

The resounding click got Squall’s attention and he snapped his neck towards Seifer in surprise.

But all the blonde could think was how suitable the color blue was for his slave…

With a gentle push the doors swung open eloquently as if the terrace were a stage and Squall was being presented with the entertainment of the moon’s antics.

They stepped out onto the stage together. With each step Squall felt he was closer to standing on the moon in all her benevolent and serene elegance.

He breathed deep the stale night air.

Beneath the moon’s extended arms her creatures slept, all the chaos stilled, if only until morning.

His mind stilled as well.

He wasn’t ready to deal with the reality of his situation yet.

Let it wait until morning…

Let him steal away a civil moment with the man who wanted to conquer him.

Why?

He thought back to the deed of rescuing Nida, that glimmer of compassion reminded Squall that Seifer was human as well…

He couldn’t make a monster out of this master of the manor.

But that didn’t change what he was to Squall… an obstacle in the way of his freedom.

He promised himself he would be free…and that promise still burned bright inside him.

So then how was he able to stand shoulder to shoulder with this man in peace?

He shivered.

Why was he so cold?

Suddenly his limbs sought the warmth of the plush comforter. And back into hibernation the brunet went.

Seifer followed him back.

The blonde took his place among the shadows against the wall and crossed his arms and ankles.

His eyes drank in the sight of pale exposed skin bathed in blue, and an aura that glowed bright despite it all.

Carnal lust danced across his face along with the cavorting shadows.

And his heart lurched painfully.

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Once the spot next to him had long lost it’s warmth, Squall finally stirred. Having grown accustomed to the strange warmth that emanated from Nida’s body he recognized its absence immediately upon waking. He gingerly sat up wondering if the boy had rolled off the bed and injured himself in the night.

His foggy eyes landed on a messy mop of hair on the floor.

He blinked in silent disbelief.

Nida’s forehead kissed the ground, his legs curled up beneath him.

Squall’s stomach churned with disgust as he realized what Nida was doing.

The injured slave was bowed in this utterly submissive pose, proving his subservience to Seifer.

This must be what ‘slaves’ were trained to do…

The simple display, however innocent, seemed crude to Squall.

He thought of the connotation behind kneeling before a master as he watched Nida’s unabashed form. The resulting image made the heat rise in his cheeks at the first image that entered his mind.

Treacherous mind…

He rubbed the corners of his eyes, residual war drums dulling in his ears.

He couldn’t watch Nida in his ridiculous pose.

It made him sick.

It made him angry.

The weakness, the submission, the defeat…

He wanted to scream at the boy. Ask him what he was doing and why!? Ask him why he stayed put if he was well enough to run?!

And just as he was about to shout at the boy he heard the familiar clanking of chains.

His stomach knotted and he felt an overwhelming urge to vomit.

He knew that sound all too well.

His body had conditioned itself to react adversely to that sickening clanking sound, the sound of his freedom about to be taken away from him.

Dread immobilized him.

And the blonde pushed the door open.

The moment of truth…

And revealed four sets of shackles dangling from his hands, and a tray of food.

For a second their eyes connected.

Squall’s skin crawled. It felt like a thousand tiny insects marching across his back and arms.

Nida dipped his head even further on the ground as Seifer emerged from behind the door, his backside tilting upwards.

“ Master! Thank you so much for your kindness! I am forever in your debt.” The words flew from Nida’s mouth in a jumble.

Seifer tore his eyes from Squall to the subservient slave sprawled on the floor. He’d barely registered the jumble that came from Nida’s mouth.

It took a moment, but slowly a genuine smile spread across Seifer’s lips.

He regarded his slave with a nostalgic tenderness in his eyes.

He was pleased to have trained such a faithful slave.

Yes, Nida was indeed the ideal slave.

“ Master! Let me live here with you and do your bidding, it is the only way I am capable of repaying you!” Nida plead in earnest, lifting his head from the ground and settling on all fours in front of Seifer’s feet.

Seifer’s golden brows arched at the request and a playful smile tugged at his lips.

“ No payment is necessary Nida. I did what any decent master would have done.” Seifer answered honestly.

“ Then allow me to offer myself to you! Have me! For I want no other master but you!” Nida replied with a trembling voice.

Seifer was slightly taken aback by the tone in Nida’s voice and the outlandish request, and so he said the first thing that came to him.

“ No Nida. I cannot keep you. We will find you a suitable master this time.” Seifer spoke softly as he began striding past Nida towards Squall.

Nida veered his neck and watched with glossy eyes as Seifer walked past him, disregarded him, denied him. Emotion clogged his throat and he began to pant as tears threatened to escape.

“ Cannot or will not master?” Nida choked out on the verge of tears, the jealousy barely hidden in his voice.

Seifer halted.

He hadn’t expected such an extreme response from Nida. As a master his initial reaction was to reprimand Nida for speaking out of line. However, he didn’t reprimand Nida.

Any master would be lucky to have such a devoted slave so willing to please.

So then why couldn’t Seifer keep him?

He could.

However, he didn’t want to.

Why?

Nida was the image of perfection Seifer had molded him to be.

Why didn’t he want him?

He pondered this as he gazed into stormy eyes shining with defiance.

Because he wanted this wild-eyed boy ready to spring from his bed and leap out the window.

Because all he could see was Squall.

All he wanted was Squall.

The world around him paled when the lithe boy was in his sight.

He turned his head slightly towards Nida.

“ Come onto the bed so I can dress your wounds.” Was the blonde’s solemn response.

Nida let his head fall between his arms in anguish. He slowly crawled onto his feet and dragged them across the floor onto his master’s bed.

Squall watched the exchange. He caught Seifer’s expression at the accusation, and the shift in his demeanor as he set his eyes upon him.

He didn’t understand why Seifer wouldn’t have Nida.

He couldn’t fathom why Seifer wouldn’t take Nida! If it was a slave he wanted why not take the one that would willingly serve? Why was he necessary? Why was Seifer so fixated on him? Why couldn’t he just be released?!

He ground his teeth with a newfound anger towards this confusion.

Seifer intended to keep him…

The civic allegiance from last night nothing more than a distant dream.

His eyes glowed with a familiar fervor.

Seifer put the tray of food in front of Squall.

He looked paradoxically apologetic and excited at the prospect of adorning Squall with his favorite bondage.

“ These wouldn’t be necessary if you would promise me you wouldn’t run.” Seifer soft softly, the chains rattling in his hands.

Squall seethed internally, defiantly glaring into the blonde’s sea-green eyes.

“ But I know you’d run despite.” He continued as he dexterously began to fasten the bonds onto his wrists and ankles.

Squall defied half-heartedly, jerking away to make it harder for Seifer to slap the cold metal on him. He knew he wasn’t recovered enough yet to actually take the blonde on.

And Seifer glared half-heartedly.

The brunet’s condition and spirit had improved drastically. He was in no rush to mar that.

So Seifer was willing to allow his futile rebelliousness…at least, for the time being.

The brunet glared down at the heavy metal weighing his limbs down. These shackles allowed him minimal freedom to move his arms and legs; however, they were heavier than the more restrictive ones.

He supposed that was the trade off.

“ Eat something, or I will force feed you.” Seifer ordered sternly, pointing to the platter of food in front of him.

Squall glared, but the grumbling in his stomach betrayed him.

Seifer chuckled and Squall snarled as he bowed his head, snatching up a piece of fruit and shoving it in his mouth angrily.

He felt like he was on display as Seifer watched him viciously chew the juicy piece of fruit. It was unnerving, and so he turned his body and bowed his head even more instinctually to hide himself.

“ Good boy.” Seifer purred, sensing Squall’s growing anxiety.

He then crossed around to the other side of the bed to tend to Nida.

Squall chose to ignore those last words because his hunger was finally being sated. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was extremely grateful for the food.

Nida was positioned on his knees, his arms drawn tight behind his back in another trained submissive pose.

His chin was turned down in resentment. He did not attempt to mask his dismay at being rejected.

Seifer patted the bed in a sign for Nida to sit.

Nida obeyed.

“ How are you feeling today?” The blonde’s deep voice rumbled out in question.

Nida tilted his head away from Seifer and his eyes fell on the silent brunet next to him shoveling food into his mouth.

This boy had replaced him and stole his master’s affection. He tried to place what was so special about this boy that had enraptured his master so.

Seifer caught the subtle action and chuckled.

He curled his thumb and index finger under Nida’s chin and turned it towards him.

“ Come now. Don’t be like that.”

That silky voice forced Nida to smile, “ I’m sorry Master. I am feeling much better thanks to you. I am very gracious.”

He had his master’s attention now; let him not sully the mood with his grievances.

“ I’m glad to hear that. Let’s look at you.”

Seifer redressed Nida’s wounds, taking most of the mummification off and wrapping only what was necessary.

Squall continued to stuff himself full of light foods. His stomach protested but he gorged himself with the intent of expediting his recovery to challenge Seifer over his freedom once again.

He felt very faint after his meal.

He had eaten too quickly…

He laid his head against the pillow, with no intention of falling asleep again, just to rest his heavy head.

He shifted trying to find a comfortable position with his new heavy chains. He found none, and so surrendered to laying them over his stomach.

He did not intend to fall asleep, however the sleep sprites thought otherwise and sprinkled their magical dust into his eyes and made them droop.

The last thing he heard was Seifer chuckling softly.

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TBC…

A/N: I am again sorry for the long delay! My major doesn’t permit me a proper sleep or eating schedule and so I have to compromise. I have a small break coming up shortly, I hope to pump out the next chapter!!

What did you all think of the style?

Let me know! Did you love it? Hate it? Not care?

Gimme that criticism!