I stared absentmindedly at the pamphlet with my face on it. It was tossed on the ground, and was just lying there.
That was until the edges of the paper began to crumble and lift. My eyes widened when the pamphlet turned into a small box, floating up. It didn't have wings, or anything to help it fly, it just did.
I watched it slowly move toward me, my mouth agape.
It went around me, in circles, and then stopped in front of my face.
"Little Miss?" It called out to me, and I flinched. Karrak's voice. It was his voice, "We've finally found you. Hold on a little longer. We will be there soon."
My lips trembled as I stared at the cube, my eyes burning, my throat closing up.
It continued to talk to me, "Don't be scared, okay? We are coming. Are you hurt? Can you tell us where you are?"
"M-master's...s-space." I answered through my quivering lips. I covered my mouth with my cuffed hands to stop my whimpers and talk louder, "H-he...he might be...be watching."
And right on cue, Master appeared in front of me. He looked at the cube, then at me, before grabbing it. He crushed it in his hand, destroying it, "What was that?"
I cowered back, digging my way deeper into the sand, trying to make myself disappear.
"Tell me." He grabbed a handful of my hair, forcing me to look at him, "What was that?"
I shook my head, refusing to answer.
He yanked me out of the sand, his fingers tightening on my scalp, "You think they will come to save you?" he shook me, his eyes ablaze with anger, "Do you think you are worth saving?"
His voice rose with every question, "You are nothing! Worthless! A sheep! A dumb, useless sheep! The only reason they want you is because you are a new toy to them! They will get bored of you soon enough, and then you will be nothing again!"
He coughed a mouthful of blood onto my face, his eyes widening.
I stared at him, frozen, as the blood dripped down from my forehead, onto my nose and lips. He quickly let me go and stumbled back, holding his chest as he looked around, trying to find the source of the attack.
I had no idea what was happening. There was no one here but us. The pamphlet!
"Touch her again, and your insides will become your outsides."
The cube had shaped itself back to its original form and was floating above my head.
Master's face was twisted in pain, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as he coughed more blood. "You...who are you? What did you do to me?" he took a step toward me, "How dare you...interfere with..."
His body jerked violently, and he clutched his chest.
"The more you move, the worse it gets."
Master chuckled darkly, "How clever, but don't think you have the upper hand."
My insides twisted painfully, like they were being squeezed by an invisible hand. The pain doubled, then tripled, the hand moved, crushing every organ it could reach and blood began to rise to my throat.
"Little Miss?" Karrak asked.
I coughed blood out of my lungs in response, unable to speak.
"What you do to me, I do to her. The pain you cause me, she will suffer twice as much," Master's voice was laced with pain, but he sounded pleased with himself, "Let's see if you can save her before she bleeds out."
Silence followed.
Master laughed, the sound was unsettling, "Hah, I thought so." He wiped the blood from his lips and looked at me with disdain, "You are a burden even to your saviors. They will regret ever looking for you."
"You can't save her," Master mocked the cube.
"What do you want? Name your price." Karrak spoke in a calm tone, not at all affected by Master's taunting.
"I heard the nine of you are sharing one female. What...is she called? Cloud Nine's Madam? If you are willing to give her up, I will consider letting this one go."
"Deal." The answer came immediately.
"..." Master was stunned by the easy agreement.
I almost choked on my blood at the casual exchange of Madam's life for mine. I shook my head, trying to deny the deal. I was not worth her life, never. Not even if I had ten lives to give. The sacrifice would not be enough.
A few heartbeats passed, and the pain in my body eased. Master's body relaxed as well. He watched me with a smirk on his face, victorious, "It looks like the Madam is not that valuable after all. Such a shame...I thought there would be an interesting female behind the nine apexes, but it seems like I was wrong."
Master was powerful. I didn't want anything to happen to Madam because of me. She was powerful, but he was an unknown element. Who knows what he was capable of?
"We left her outside your establishment. She is waiting for you," Karrak said.
Master's smirk fell, "They act fast, I'll give them that. How do I know she's the real Madam? How do I know she's not a fake?"
"She is the one and only," Karrak replied, "You will know once you see her."
Master was cautious, "Well, I will have the sheep to tell me if she is real or not," he glanced at me, "And if she is not..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but I knew what he meant. If Madam was not the real one, he would hurt me, and make the owners suffer for deceiving him. I was now the bait for his trap.
I wiped my mouth, "Please...don't come, it's a trap. He's dangerous. Don't give Madam to him."
Owners could be very confident sometimes, and it might work against them this time. I couldn't let Madam get hurt, and if she was hurt, the owners would go on a rampage. The whole world would burn.
"It's alright, Little Miss," Karrak comforted me, "I'm sure Madam can handle one male," he taunted Master back, "especially one as weak as him. Can't even fight without using others as a shield, ah, what a sad male he is. How embarrassing. I would die of shame if I were him. Oh, wait, he is dying. Hahaha."
My mouth dropped open at Karrak's insults. He was going to get me killed. I shook my head at the cube, pleading him to stop. I didn't need him to provoke Master, it would only lead to more pain for me.
"One of your circuses had been burned to the ground," Karrak said casually, "Others are now under the control of Cloud Nine. Think carefully before touching Little Miss again."
The cube landed on my head, its weight light as a feather. I didn't dare to move as Master stared at me, his eyes calculating the risks, and his next move.
It felt like hours passed before he finally made a decision. He disappeared without a word, and returned with Madam.