Mirrored Realms: Amethyst & Tennessee

The screams jolted Amethyst awake. Her head swiveled quickly around as her breath stopped. She took in the cell: gentle rays of light cascaded through the grates above, dimly illuminating the mold stained walls and worn cobble floors.

Her eyes locked onto Nuru, whose chest was heaving and back was glued to the corner of the cell. She looked all around her frantically. Amethyst thought back to when Nuru was tossed into the cell unconscious nearly two months prior. Her chest was wrapped in soiled bandages, and her face had been beaten to a pulp. She had bruises and cuts all around her body. Amethyst was sure she wouldn't make it through the night.

The next morning, Nuru was propped up in the corner of the cell. The way her body was slumped, Amethyst was sure she must have passed in the night. She was shocked to find that a slow, yet determined breath persisted.

Now, with the bandages gone, her reactions were more animated, but the fear was the same. Amethyst's voice cracked, "Nuru, it's just the Testers above-- you are still safe." Her tone was soft, just loud enough to be heard over the din above.

Nuru's eyes met Amethyst's and her breathing slowed as her shoulders dropped. Nuru started to shake her head slowly. She tucked her knees in close, hugging them tightly. Silent sobs emanated from her shuttering form as her fingers dug in.

Amethyst gingerly stood, her stomach churned, and the room began to twist and bend. She dropped to her knees and lowered her head, inhaling deeply, working through the wave of nausea. She hesitantly stood once more and shambled over and placed a hand onto Nuru's shoulder.

This morning ritual was followed by Amethyst walking across the cell to the barred doors. She slowly wrapped her fingers around the rusted bars and peered towards the cell across from her. There she could see Wa Chini curled up in a ball.

All evidence pointed to him still being asleep. Only the small flicking at the tip of his tail indicated to Amethyst that he was actually awake. His round ears were flattened against his head.

Four months prior Amethyst had watched Wa Chini be thrown into the cell across from hers. He had held himself tightly as the door latched. The fur on his underbelly was matted and stained with blood. One of his eyes was swollen and he had an odd twist at the end of his tail.

For several days, he had been curled in the corner of the cell, his head jerked slightly at every noise, just as Amethyst's had when she first arrived. While cowering, he licked the tip of his tail and would make low chirping noises like a bird while panting in the heat.

Behind Wa Chini sat Sven, a young boy with a light complexion and blond hair that looked to be about twelve. He was playing with a few rocks on the floor, making hushed noises while clacking them together.

Sven's giggles peaked Wa Chini's interest; his feigned sleep shattered, he looked over to Sven and started whispering to him. Although neither one of them could understand what the other was saying, it didn't seem to matter. They would both converse in their own ways.

After a few minutes of Wa Chini cooing, Sven started to cry, grabbing at his head he let out whimpers. Wa Chini sat the boy in his lap, holding him close. He began to sing a quiet lullaby as Sven buried his head into Wa Chini's chest. Wa Chini brushed Sven's hair aside. His face turned sour and he looked over towards Amethyst.

"The infection grows worse, his wound had festered. I fear a fever is inevitable." Wa Chini chirped. He went back to comforting Sven.

Amethyst's sorrow grew deeper as she watched the pair quietly for a few more moments before returning to her corner. She slid down the wall with a somewhat controlled fall. Her tail curled around her feet as she let out a deep held sigh.

Amethyst could hear the woman whose screams had startled her awake. She was speaking in some language that Amethyst thought came from the far east. Amethyst covered her ears, cursing her ability to understand the woman's pained words. There was a tingle that would run from the roof of her mouth to her ears. It was an itch that came from the rune carved into the underside of her tongue. The longer the rune worked, the deeper the itch felt. No matter how hard she tried, it just wouldn't go away until she could finally stop listening.

The streets of the Slave Market of Stone Town would start bustling right as the sun would rise. New customers were always eager to test their potential product. Testers were always first come, first served. Their pleas for help were the indicators that the markets were officially open. As the sun crept higher, the Testers would be removed and their cries would be replaced with laughter and arguments. The incoherent babble would drone above like cicadas.

The itch finally subsided as light beamed into the cells. The burning rays baked the humid air, suffocating all those trapped in the gull of The Sewers. The only refuge being the shade from passing people or the lone cloud floating through the sapphire sea of the sky.

A loud clanking sound indicated it was meal time. When Amethyst had first arrived, these cells were full, and meals would come three times a day. These days it would be a special occasion to receive a meal twice a day. It was also not uncommon for a day to be forgotten.

The clanking indicated the next part in the day's ritual. Each individual would need to take their wooden bowls and pass them through the bars, holding them out for a scoop or two of Slurry Slop.

"Emis, You need to put your bowl out." Called a deep voice from the end of the cell block. "Emis, wake up!" Though raised, his voice seemed filled with worry. A long moment passed, the silence weighing heavy in the air. "Emis?" He inquired softly. His uneven footsteps echoed through the halls.

Amethyst watched as Busara, the man tasked with food duty, limped his way past her, down the hall to Emis's cell. The tense silence continued as Busara stood still, not saying anything as he looked in on Emis. "Sorry everyone, it seems Emis has passed into The Night." Busara started to make his way back to the door.

Sven had gone back to playing with the small stones he had found some time ago. Wa Chini stood with both bowls out, waiting. "Ow ow ow ow!" Sven started to cry. He grabbed his head and started sobbing. Wa Chini stepped quickly over to Sven attempting to calm him down.

Another voice from down the hall called out hastily "Get yer asses movin', I ain't got all day!" The frustrated tone was followed by the bang of the metal door slamming shut.

Busara returned, stopping briefly at Amethyst's cell. He leaned in closely. "Emis found himself a knife, must have fallen from the grates above. He took his way out, but did so at the back of his cell." The rhythm of his speech was slow and thought out as he continued. "The Sewers have claimed another one."

Amethyst placed her hand onto his shoulder. "The Sewers claimed nothing, the man simply made a choice." Her voice was soft and gentle. "This place is not forever, we just need to keep up hope." She flashed a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Busara looked deeply into those lavender spheres.

"My hope is dried away like a shallow puddle in the sun." His despair radiated from him, his eyes were orbs of sadness. "For today, shall be the last I serve you dear friend." He looked down at his feet, and mumbled, "For today I join into the service of Katili."

Amethyst's heart leapt into her throat as her stomach lurched. "Perhaps, you shall find a joy in it."

The two stood together for a few moments. For three years, Busara had been coming down to give them food. Their short conversations built a friendship brick by brick and now it was time to say goodbye. They touched their heads together through the bars shortly, the rust leaving marks on both of them.

Busara made haste climbing the stairs at the end of the hall. A few moments later, three large men staggered towards Emis's cell. The smell of their booze cutting into the dank mildew and ammonia scent that permeated The Sewers. They dragged his body out, two men each holding an arm while the third had Emis's legs. The men were muttering profanities as they made their way up the stairs. One man lost his grip on the blood soaked arm, letting his part of the body drop.

The man began kicking at the corpse furiously for a moment while the other two cackled. He then picked up his third and kept on his way. The shouts and laughter of the men above echoed through the grates in the ceiling. It was nearly an hour later that a fourth man came down into the halls and proclaimed "Chow time, you lousy sows!" The clank once again announced food.

Each resident of The Sewers lined up, once again offering their bowls. Wa Chini stood, both bowls out. The man stepped forward looking at Wa Chini. "The boy needs to hold his own bowl!" The man said sternly.

Wa Chini looked back toward Sven, who was playing completely unaware of the conversation before him. "Please, the boy does not have the faculty to understand."

"Food is food, if the boy wants to eat he needs to learn. Busara wasn't doing his job, I'll pass that along to his new master." A devilish grin formed on the man's face as he started to pass Wa Chini and Sven without giving them food.

"Wait." Wa Chini hissed. He went over to Sven and helped pick him up. Sven started to protest, dropping his legs out from under him and flailing. He began to scream, crying out for his mother once more. Wa Chini patiently held the boy for a moment.

The man watched on in amusement, a cruel smile covered his face watching as Sven was hammering his fists against Wa Chini. Despite the blows, Wa Chini simply cooed at the boy attempting to put the empty bowl in his hands.

After a short struggle, Sven threw his bowl across the cell, screaming that it was empty and that he again wanted his mother. The man simply laughed at the boy's plight. But Wa Chini pressed on, trying to calm Sven.

After a few labored minutes, Sven was finally relaxing. Wa Chini helped guide Sven's hands through the bars. The man looked pleased, and scooped a heaping helping into the bowl.

"Thanks for the show, kid." Sven took his bowl into the corner and started to slurp it up. Wa Chini picked up Sven's discarded bowl and put it through the bars. "Oh, sowwy kitty cat, no mo gwub." The man mocked in a tone that mimicked Sven before laughing and making his way off.

Each day the man would come down to mock Sven and Wa Chini. After a week of this, he started to become bored of his show, more annoyed each time Sven would fight. The man was growing visibly agitated by the end of the second week.

"This kid's a lost cause kitty cat" The man said boorishly, "I got a game, I'll give the boy double food, and even come back later to give 'im seconds if he can manage to get his bowl through the bars on his own" The man's smirk was wide, it was clear he was quite proud of his little idea.

Amethyst called over to Sven, her tongue twisting in an old familiar way. "Sven, honey, you just need to put your bowl through the bars." Her quiet desperation was apparent to the man.

"Shuddup!" The man yelled, "That's against the rules. Do it again and I'll make sure he don't get shit!"

Sven looked up at the man and back to Amethyst, tears welled up in his eyes. He stuck his hands through the bars towards Amethyst, and cried out "Mommy, Mommy please come get me, I don't know where I am!"

The man's foot rose and shot towards Sven's chest which was pressed into the bars. Sven was yanked back by Wa Chini, the man's foot narrowly missing as Wa Chini covered him. In response, the man laid his boot into Wa Chini's back several times.

"Wait!" Amethyst cried, "The boy is sick, he is just confused, maybe if we could have some medicine--"

The man rushed over to Amethyst, only the thin metal bars separating them. "Shut ya mouth, or I shut it for ya." His eyes flickered wildly back and forth as his face flushed with anger.

"I can help heal the boy," Nuru murmured from behind Amethyst. "No need to even waste the medicine."

"He could be sold if we just heal him." Amethyst agreed. "Tell the master, if we heal him or at least get him medicine--"

"What and miss out on my fun?" The man scoffed. He looked back over towards Sven and Wa Chini. "Don't think so."

"Please!" cried Nuru and Amethyst almost in unison.

The man grunted and walked away. Sven, meanwhile, was punching and kicking Wa Chini while Wa Chini tried soothing him by slowly stroking his head, being careful to avoid the now swollen and festering wound. After a few minutes of Sven thrashing, he passed out.

Wa Chini checked the boy's infected gash, and looked over towards Amethyst and Nuru. Wa Chini spoke softly, "He is with a great fever. I do not believe he will make into the year."

Each day after that, Nuru and Amethyst would plead more aggressively with the men who would come down, begging for medicine or for Nuru to be with the boy to help heal him. But each time the men would grow frustrated and leave, or try to hit the girls as they pled.

Wa Chini would sit and hold Sven. As time went on, Sven would struggle more and more just to wake up, and Wa Chini would sing to him the quiet lullaby he had sung for the months they were here. Each day their voices would all fall onto deaf ears. Four days before the year's end, Sven passed in Wa Chini's arms.

The following months felt hollow, each day the ritual would return again. Woken by the Testers screams, then a clang for food, and another resident of The Sewers would die. Two months after Sven's passing, the Monsoons came.

The rain would start each evening and wouldn't stop until morning. When Amethyst had first experienced these monstrous rains six years ago, she had given thanks to her gods for the relief from the heat. But quickly the water started to rise. For days she would sit in a foot or more of water. Soon the water became painful as it slowly ate away at her.

The sun would come out each morning, and the water would slowly drain. She would bake, and burn as the heat and sun slowly cooked her and the others alive.

Then came the mosquitos. Ravenous clouds of choking insects looking for every inch of flesh they could. Many found their last days here, but Amethyst persisted year after year. She could, to a degree, control the water that was touching her, keeping her flesh from growing gangrenous.

In Wa Chini's cell, a small portion of the wall had fallen over revealing a stony clay on which he could remain mostly above the water. His fur had started to green in places from the mold, and he would spend each night shivering, hugging himself, trying not to slip into the water.

Amethyst would do what she could for Nuru. What little control she had over the water exhausted her as she tried to keep Nuru dry. For weeks the three waited for their shared hell to end. Around them the remaining residents of The Sewers would succumb to nature's merciless execution, their bodies left to bloat and rot as their captors waited for The Sewers to dry out.

Near the end of the second month of the new year, deep in the night, the unmistakable screech of the guards door sounded through the silent air. The whisper of a hushed female voice followed. Amethyst's heart sank and her soul was rent to pieces as she heard the voice's words.

"Sven? Ebba? Baby are you here? I've come to get you."