Jade Les Fleurs Précieueses 

He placed his hand over Callaway’s right eye, “Here, I’ll demonstrate again, but this time slower, so you can catch it.” The Young Master’s palm began to glow and in the exact same tone of voice as he did earlier, he whispered, “Aging Touch.” This time instead of the aging being rapid like before, The Young Master deliberately slowed down the process, keeping it at a speed in which the evil man could see, rather, feel his eye shriveling as it either dies or goes blind. 

“You feel that,” The Young Master asked, condescendingly I might add. “That pain you feel, the sharp digging feeling in your eye? Those are the nerves in your eye screaming and pleading for moisture.” He placed his hand on Callaway’s leg and continued his attack, “wait, I’ve got an idea, Ne-Chan, have you ever seen a man in his mid to late thirties have the insides of a senior citizen?”

I gasped with excitement, “Oh my, I haven’t, can you show me?” The Young Master smiled, and keeping that smile, he turned to Callaway. Myrlin didn’t necessarily have a “scary” smile, however his eyes squinted to the point where they weren’t visible, but you knew he was locked in on you; he wore those eyes as he smiled at that vile human. 

With his one good arm, Callaway tried to resist and push away, “You asked, rather, commanded I state myself,” The Young Master spat with a smile. “I find it only fair that I introduce myself before conducting my experiment, not that it’ll do you any good. My name is First Crown Prince of Garyudōra, Myrlin Samael Wyllt-Garyushi; a Demon Lord,” there was an air of sadism in his voice, almost as if he waited to do this. 

“Now,” The Young Master placed his hand on the boorish man’s abdomen. “Isolate each individual organ with a barrier using Eternal Stasis,” his eyes flashed blue as he activated his technique. “Then, using my sub-signature, Chrono Shift, I can control the speed in which your organs age. Hey Jade, you still have that old necklace of Mind Sand I gave you a while back?”

I untucked the necklace from underneath my uni, “I never removed it, Young Master,” I replied, gently placing my hand on it. 

“Good, I’m going to project an image of what I’m doing, it’s quite fascinating,” he turned his head to look at me. He wore a gleeful expression, it was almost like he was a child again, like that first time we encountered slavers in the LeFey Forest. 

I nodded my head and closed my eyes, concentrating on the image The Young Master was trying to send me. At first, I saw nothing, not darkness, but nothing. Like trying to see out of your elbow, I didn’t see anything. That was until, I caught a quick flash of something pinkish grey, it happened so fast that I thought I was imagining it, but it happened again, and again, and again. It kept happening, but in longer intervals, sometimes it was the same image, other times it was something different. 

“Oh, I think I see it!” I exclaimed with excitement. “This is what a functioning human’s insides look like? Quite interesting.” I recalled a heart, some lungs, a stomach, a brain, kidneys, a liver and the man’s poor excuse of a penis. Each organ aged both slowly and rapidly; fast enough to be seen by the naked eye and slow enough to be felt by the victim. 

By this point, Callaway had seized from the shock done to his body, “You’re not going anywhere,” chimed The Young Master. “You and all your little slaver buddies won’t get the sweet salvation of death. Oh no, I’ve got a better fate in store for you lot,” a devilish smile spread across The Young Master’s face. He placed his thumb on top of Callaway’s forehead and pressed down, and almost instantly, the slaver reacted. He was dazed and confused, gasping for air.  However, because of The Young Master’s experiment, he found it nearly impossible to do so. 

“Eternal Stasis; Crystallization!” The Young Master stretched his hand out as a light blue spell circle manifested itself beneath Callaway. The light gradually illuminated the room before dissipating, leaving a transparent crystal with Callaway’s pathetic lump of a body encapsulated in the center. “That’s crystallized carbon, and the way I manipulated it, it’ll last almost forever,” he said, again with a smile, but there was no sense of hostility or malice in his voice. It was as if all his frustrations and anger crystallized along with Callaway. 

“You truly are incredible, Young Master,” I stated, genuinely. 

•••

Effie Callaway

I woke up the next morning in my room. I had been bathed, and the injuries on my face from when Massa Callaway was beating me, were gone.

What’s going on? Did all that really happen last night? I thought to myself, trying to recall the events before I passed out. Rainbow hair, “That’s right, the Sand Master came last night to save me and Missy.” I looked around the room, but there was no sign of her; Maybe it was a dream.

There was a knock at the door followed by it opening. I knew I’d slept in late, but I wasn’t sure by how long. I know once Massa catches me, I’m sure that dream I had will actually happen. To my surprise, however, it wasn’t Massa, instead it was a woman. A very beautiful woman in a maid’s outfit, and not just any woman, she was a Night-Skinned Demon. She wore a relieved smile as she approached me; she felt familiar, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. 

“Miss Effie, my dear, I’m so relieved to see you’re finally awake,” the woman said. Who is this woman. Her star pattern looks so familiar. Do I, know this woman? I do. I do know this woman, but how? “I know you’re confused, but I’d like to reintroduce myself,” the woman’s form and height shifted and she turned into Missy; she was Missy. 

“Am I dreaming? Are you tricking me?” I started to panic but my nerves calmed down the moment she grabbed my hands. 

“Miss Effie, you remind me so much of my sisters and the two Young Mistresses. Truth is, I think of you as one of them, and I cherish you,” her form shifted back into that of the maid. “My name is Jade Les Fleurs Précieueses, and I’m a subordinate of the mage in my tale, the one that saved you last night.”

I couldn’t control my next words, they kinda just came out, “You know him? The Sand Master? He’s real? That was real?” I had a fleury of questions and Missy, or Jade, just smiled and told me that she’ll tell me more in time. It didn’t matter though, I was just relieved that my closest friend, dare I say, my best friend, was safe. 

Jade explained that her master, Crown Prince Myrlin, was appalled by how I was treated before he came in, “He healed your wounds by reversing them to before they appeared.” He really did that, for me? It was almost too good to be true, but she assured me that no more harm would come to me or anyone he freed. 

She had taken the time to lay out an outfit for me to wear; the clothes looked really expensive and fancy. I refused at first, but after her constant insistence, I decided to at least try it on. She called it a kimono and she said that it’s a garb worn in certain countries in Asia and where she and her master are from. The kimono was black and was made with a light material; the most beautiful part was the back, it had a rainbow embroidered emblem. It was circular with an odd character in the middle. Jade told me that where they’re from, they speak a language called “Ryubá,” and the symbol on the kimono was called a “kanji” that means “Mage Kindred” or “Majin” for short. I didn’t understand it at the time, but she elaborated again that everything would be explained soon. 

After getting dressed, Jade took me downstairs to put something on my stomach, I had been expecting the plantation to be in shambles without Massa Callaway, but I was wrong. The entire plantation had a sense of peace, the women and children all had relieved smiles and each wore the same type of kimono I was wearing. “Mama, Mama, look,” yelled a young girl who’d just finished changing into her kimono, “I look so pretty and fancy!” She wore her hair in braided plats and had a toothy grin spread across her face. Her mother, wearing the same kimono, smiled back at her daughter and simply said “That’s because you are.” 

As we made our way to the plantation house where we’d have a late breakfast, Jade shared with me more about herself and The Sand Master. They were from another world, one kind of like this, but with a few differences, and that she basically helped raise The Sand Master. “So how did y’all get here?” I asked genuinely curious, since they came from another world and all. The maid—, my friend, let out a nostalgic sigh before telling me an unexpected and epic story of a war between the two worlds. 

“The war between us and the Greek gods lasted a—a brief millennia before the thread-lines that connected our worlds together, stitched together, leaving us here for the time being,” she began to elaborate on the story she originally told me while she was posing as Missy. She went on to say that while her master and his siblings were attending school, they were suddenly invaded by the Ancient Greek gods; they responded accordingly by declaring war as the invasion was unprovoked. “The Young Master intends to elaborate more on this subject, but I do feel the need to tell you,” she remarked. 

Once we made it to the main house, we were greeted by an extremely handsome man with bronze brown skin, golden blonde hair, and a jet black beard wearing a similar kimono as everyone else; almost like everyone else’s. His outfit, although a kimono, seemed to be heavier and he also held a beautiful golden and jeweled spear. The man smiled as we approached the porch. “Grand Rising, Miss Jade, Miss Effie,” the man said as he bowed his head. 

“This is another one of The Young Master’s subordinates, his name is Gilgamesh,” Jade introduced the man. 

“Gilgamesh? You mean like the one in the Bible?” I asked both star struck and in disbelief. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance,” Gilgamesh replied with a smile. “And no, I predate that version of me; I am the first King of Uruk, Ruler of the greatest Empire this world has ever seen, The Mesopotamian Emperor, Gilgamesh!” Gilgamesh erupted into laughter, much to the annoyance of Jade. 

“And we really serve the same master?” Jade questioned with a shake of her head and a sigh. 

“You might be wondering how an emperor became a subordinate of a Demon Lord, well it’s interesting really,” Gilgamesh began. “The Young Master did the unthinkable for me, more than once… And for that, I’d travel the ends of time with him!”

I was in awe by the two individuals in front of me, even more so now that I’d heard more about The Sand Master. “Jade, do you think it would be alright if I served him alongside you? I owe him my life, and the way you two are; your happiness, I want that too,” I didn’t know what I was saying. But I knew that I meant every word of it. 

“Is that what you really wish to do,” a calm, soothing, yet powerful voice rang in my ear. I turned around and saw him. It was him, The Sand Master. He had on a navy blue and gold trimmed kimono with what I could only imagine as a stick attached to a string that was wrapped around his waist that dangled from his back. “Miss Effie, before you make that decision, I implore you to listen to what I have to say tonight. If you’re still interested after what I have to say, I’ll accept you with open arms.”

The two subordinates were both quiet and observed me, awaiting my response, “I understand and will do as such.” I replied with stoicism. Jade gently placed her hand on my shoulder as The Sand Master nodded his head. “Come, you must be hungry,” he said, motioning us inside the house. As we entered, I was plagued by thoughts of the night prior, however, I wasn’t scared. Instead I felt like I was in a position to confront them and leave them in my past. 

We made our way into the dining room and there was an entire spread of breakfast food waiting to be consumed. I’ve only ever seen food prepared like this for slave masters, and the fact that I was even getting the chance to eat something so delicious looking and fancy only proved that this man was in fact the “Sovereign” Jade had been talking about. 

“Please, eat until you are full,” The Sand Master said as he pulled a chair out for me and the other women. “We have prepared an exquisite meal for you that is both delicious and nutritious. And if you can’t finish it, it’s alright, I understand the conditions you all were subjected to were extreme and harsh. So myself and my subordinates intend to rehabilitate you all to a point where you are healthy.”

The other women and children eyes all grew and began to eat as though it was their first time. I didn’t blame them, all we’ve ever known was this wretched life, my people and the non-humans have sat around watching these people stuff their faces with food we make for them. Whipping us until we can’t move, taking advantage of our bodies in unspeakable ways. This was a bit of salvation I wanted; no, I only ever dreamed of. I looked down at the plate of food in front of me as tears pooled, blurring my line of vision. “Thank you,” I took a bite of the food; it was the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. 

As I continued to eat, a few more people that looked just as intimidating as The Sand Master walked in and stood next to him. “I would like to formally introduce myself and my colleagues. My name is Crown Prince: Myrlin Samael Wyllt-Garyushi,” he stood giving everyone a bow. 

There were two other women that joined us, the first was a black woman that looked like she could be The Sand Master’s sister; she wore a fancy purple dress that was accented with black, and she wore her hair in two giant loose curls. “My name is Crown Princess: Minerva Cosmina Wyllt-Miryushi, I’m Myrlin’s younger sister and ruler of a wonderful nation called Miryudōra,” the woman curtsied while closing her eyes. She had a mother-like feel to her, and it made me want to listen to any and every word she had to say. 

The other woman on the other hand, looked more like the folks that helped enslave us, Pa said they called Spaniards. Except, she felt different, I couldn’t explain it, but like The Sand Master’s sister, she had a “mother-like” feel to her too; but her’s was different. She had a like, primal feel to her; the best way I can describe it is the princess, The Sand Master’s sister, felt like my mother, but this lady felt like she’s everything’s mother. “And I am Renata Timandra Faust-Bestahla, Crown Princess of Bestahlagro, though I may look like those that have brought you harm, I assure you, I only wish to help Myrlin and Minerva free as many slaves as we can,” the white woman said. Although, I did feel a sense of genuine kindness and love within her words. 

To be continued...