Part [of] Jess II
This is hell. Purest form of hell. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve anything they did to me. Was basically how life was on a daily basis on the pirate ship. Two years had already passed since we were sold to the pirates, a long and painful two years. They'd take their anger out on us up whenever they got angry over something, making sure to break our shields beforehand. The pirate ship was really big, needing at least six grown adults or eighteen children to take care of it. Since none of the pirates could be bothered to do it themselves they had opted for the second option. Which meant the only reason they looked for children with "tough outer shells" was to work us to death. What started as two children aboard quickly shot up to nine, then eight and finally eighteen. All of us children were forced to be crammed into the dark room which the pirates mockingly called a sleeping quarter. Nevertheless, life was somehow going on. Zoen had picked up a few useful skills like patching up the children's wounds, sewing and preparing food. We came pretty close to perfecting our own sign language by now too.
Someone suddenly shook me awake.
"Jess? Jess come on, join us for breakfast."
I slowly got up from my bed to join the other kids for breakfast. We were eating the same bland foods as we did for the past two years. There was a stale piece of bread along with water and some cheese. The cheese they gave us was always horrible tasting but it wasn't as bad as starving to death. After everyone was done with our excuse of a breakfast, Zoen opened the door, leading us through the ship, finally arriving at the door which opened up to the main deck. He'd always hesitate while opening this door. He didn't want to be a slave to this lifestyle just like us. But I knew what he truly desired, it was for us to be safe. A ray of sun hit my eyes as the door was opened. Sixteen of the children went outside as I stayed back with Zoen.
"Good luck." I signed.
He had a tired smile on his face.
"You too, Jess."
We finally followed the other children. The pirates were ordering us left to right already.
"You two, demon and her translator! Get up to the poop deck and clean it now!"
I went to get a mop while Zoen looked for a bucket. We started cleaning wherever they ordered us to for hours. When the pirates demanded a job from me they usually called Zoen as well. It made the most sense as he was the only one that could translate me. When we first arrived on the ship they wanted to get rid of me for that exact reason but they had spared me since the average demon was stronger than a human physically.
After a long day of hard labour, fifteen of us were permitted to return back to our dark room. Zoen went to the furthest corner of the room and plugged his ears with his hands. We all knew what was incoming. A voice we could barely hear begging for mercy followed by countless screams and whimpers. I went up to my friend, hugging him from behind. I sometimes thought it hurt him more to hear us in pain than actually him being in pain. Just you wait Zoen, I'll write a good ending for you. I thought to myself. We remained at that spot until the voices ended and our door slammed open. The three children were tossed into the room before the door got slammed shut. Zoen hurried over to them with a strong looking face, trying not to show his worry. He made sure to apply bandages, herbs and such when it was necessary to the three. All the children gathered in the middle of the room afterwards, waiting for dinner. I helped Zoen distribute the same food as the breakfast to the other children. Both of us finally sat down after giving the last kid his share. We munched on the stale bread and cheese like it was a privilege. When night drew near, all of us met up in the middle again. We talked in whispers, cursing the pirates, talking about our worries, some even sobbing over the loss of their families. At the dead of night, Zoen and I left the other children's side with the excuse of visiting the grave of our deceased friend.
After a long walk to the bilge of the pirate ship, we saw the makeshift grave we made for the kid they brought in after us. There was a small plank with her name carved on it, Narie. We had decorated her grave with the worn out light gray tie ,which was probably pink, she had when she first came aboard. Her death was tragic to say the least. An overly drunk pirate had stabbed her with a broken beer bottle until her breathing stopped. Her death was the exact reason why I preferred not go get too close with the other children. We were mere toys to be played with for them.
Zoen kneeled to say his prayers while I watched from the back. He turned back to me with teary eyes when he was done. A gray one handed sword was resting in his hand, shining even in the depths of this godforsaken ship. His grip tightened around the hilt, giving me the signal to begin. With a click from my hand, appeared twenty dark red swords. I extended my arm forward, launchextende swords towards Zoen. He slipped past ten of them before parrying eight and blocking the final two. He got up to my face which I responded by stepping back and summoning a longsword. A lot of sound was being produced by this daily training of ours which was exactly the reason the bilge of the ship was the ideal place. We came here at night to make sure the pirates never heard a thing.
Zoen never used his blasters in our trainings. They made a ton of noise along with being already easy constructs to control so there was no reason to practice with them. I on the other hand, faced him with each sword type I could come up with, trying to learn a bit of everything. Zoen tried one last thrust which I answered by stepping left and bringing my sword right in front of his throat. He gave up with a sigh.
"You won again Jess. How are you this efficient with every sword?"
"Inborn talent." I signed. A total lie. I practiced fighting with swords whenever I could. With mops whenever people didn't look at me, at night when everyone slept and each time after Zoen left the bilge. I would make him leave by saying I wanted to pray for Narie alone. At the core of this, what truly fueled my desperation to ger stronger laid wrath. One of the only feelings I had that didn't dull out unlike the rest over the years. I signed the same excuse to Zoen to get him to leave again. I summoned a claymore the second he left to practice. I was going to be here all day since I knew,myZoen, can not protect himself without me.
A new day arose which we didn't have any way of knowing. There was not a single light source lighting up our room. I had went back to the room once I saw the sun set in between the cracks of the bilge. One of the pirates tossed an unfamiliar kid inside the room along with the supplies they provided us daily. The kid wore a ragged brown cloak, making me unable to see the face behind it's shadows. Zoen carefully approached the cloaked kid.
"Are you alright? If you have any injuries I can tend to them immediately."
The child slipped past Zoen, heading directly towards me. With a swift move, the cape of the cloak was thrown back, revealing the sharp horns of the kid. Her horns started a few centimeters above her forehead, going all the way behind her head. She hugged me with tears in her eyes. I could guess what she thought, which was exactly the same reason my eyes had welled up. At last, another demon.
She clinged to me all throughout the breakfast, hindering me from eating but I couldn't care less about that. She was only two years younger than me making her ten, the exact age I was when I was sold to these pirates. I spoke to her through Zoen a lot as the pirates didn't call us out of our room the entire day. I learned that she shared a similar story to mine with the exception of her throat not being cut. Her name was Engravia which originated from engrave. The entire day passed right in front of our eyes while we were busy talking. The little demon girl opened her mouth one last time.
"I'll learn how to read your hands too! So we can finally chat without needing Zoen."
"How sweet of you." I signed which Zoen spoke out loud.
I didn't want to get attached to her but I just couldn't help myself. It had been years since I last saw a person from my race. Maybe I could have stopped myself from getting close to her if only she didn't remind me of my little sister. I'll avenge you. Trust me.
All three of us had gotten sleepy which probably meant it was night time. I showed Engravia her sleeping place before all the children met in the middle to eat. The little demon devoured the tasteless meal in front of us which didn't suprise me at all. All newcomers did this. After the eating session was over we wished eachother goodnight through Zoen and went to our designated sleeping spots. That night, I cuddled with Zoen to sleep. I had more worries on my mind than any day. We both fell asleep soon.
The door slammed open.
"ALL OF YOU CHILDREN, HURRY OVER TO THE MAIN DECK. IMMEDIATELY!" yelled the pirate who entered our room, bringing the sunlight with him.
We didn't have any other choice but to obey his words. We all went up to the main deck before being escorted to the forecastle deck. The captain of the ship had a plank in her hands decorated with a light gray bow tie. A whisper exploded amongst ourselves immediately. All of them said something different from each other but shared one common word, "Narie."
"SILENCE!" yelled the captain. "Tell me, which one of you imbeciles decided it was a good idea to wreck a plank from my ship. Eh? Tell me, now!"
A deadly silence followed her words. They all knew who made that. I did too. It was me. Zoen almost immediately stepped forward with one of his hands up.
"It was me, captain."
"No no no, don't listen to him it was me trust me it was me please don't listen to him no no no." I signed in desperation, mixing up my words.
The captain narrowed her eyes.
"Tell me translator, what is that filthy demon saying?"
Zoen's head dropped. I knew what he was about to do.
"She's saying that I did it and to punish me and me only."
I was left there frozen. Only my hands dared to shake. The captain yelled at us all to go back down the stairs to our dark room. I sat down at the edge of the room, without a hint of light in my eyes. Engravia sat next to me, hugging me tightly. I had to listen my friend's screams for hours. Are they going to kill him..? Was went through my mind in an endless loop. The screams were cut off suddenly. I closed my eyes, hoping I was wrong. I wanted to be wrong. A few footsteps were heard descending down the stairs. The door got opened and Zoen was tossed inside. I ran as fast as I could, pushing anyone in my way. He was barely breathing but still breathing.
"What should I do Zoen, answer me." I signed but he couldn't see. His eyes were swollen. I looked around his first aid kit for anything but to no avail. He didn't die from the beating he received sure, but he'd soon slip away from my fingers if I didn't do anything. My knees soon gave out, forcing me to sit. I didn't care as I somehow managed to crawl to him where I sat by his side, putting his head on my lap. I was sat there all night long. All throughout the night he showed signs of life but I was unsure of what his fate would be. On one hand I trusted Zoen to survive this with some bullshit he'd call "the power of friendship" but on the other hand I couldn't help but worry, what if that was the last time I'd see him? A weak voice spoke up from on top of my lap.
"Good job... Jess... You were... supposed to keep... my head... up... You learned..."
A tear dripped on top of his forehead. No you idiot, I had no fucking idea. After two whole years, on that night, I finally managed to cry my eyes out.