UPON VESTIA: CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

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Ethan nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Do they execute the ruler, or do they have to keep them alive?" He probably had too many questions.

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"Oh, I know that feeling," Vestia said sympathetically. She watched Amari snooze. Aww.

"M-marcus..." his face turn sour a bit, "H-he master, yiu guys don't like masters."

Asher looked sad for a moment, even though he didn't trust Marcus, he still felt bad for him. It had to be awful to be feared by your own child. "No, we don't like masters," he agreed. "We've had bad experiences with them."

"A father is not a master either." Starr said gently then shook her head "Though we understand that you don't understand the difference. A father still should be listened to, though your life is your own."

"He bought me, he master." Amari said shaking his head.

Asher nodded. "All right. Well, our point is that this room might not always be your cage. You might be able to explore more of this ship someday."

He blinked, ears perking. "R-really?"

Starr tilted her head then shook it "We can explain it more later, though I bought Asher to free him. He belongs to himself now."

"S-so you want to become my new master..?" He pouted a bit.

Starr chuckled at that and shook her head "No, no. We do not want anyone to be your master except you."

He held this confuse look, not sure what to say about that.

Starr wanted to reach out and pat him, though she kept her hands to herself. "Don't worry, you will understand in time, for now just know that we are not going to become your master, though you do have to follow the rules of the ship when and if we can let you roam freely. Soon there will be many more former slaves that will be here too. A lot of my people were recently freed from their bonds."

He nodded, "Rules, follow rules no pain." He said firmly.

"The same rules we all have to follow" Starr added, she wanted to hug him, he looked so sad.

He nodded, "S-so if you break rules you are hurt too?"

Asher sighed. How did you even explain any of this to a kid who'd been mistreated all his life? "It's more like you get rewarded for following the rules. If you're nice to people, they'll be nice to you."

Starr sighed and looked down a moment "We choose to follow the rules because they are best for everyone, not because we would be punished. Like if you were to use your tail to hurt someone, you would be sent to your room here, or the brig, depending on the circumstances and what caused it. We would want to find out why, so we could work together to stop it from happening again."

"T-treats?" Amari's ears flicker forward, "Like sweets?" There was one way to help him learn to adapt. He listen to Star. "Tail doesn't kill, just stun. Defense only."

"Yes, maybe sweets sometimes," Asher said, smiling. "Yes, I read about your tail. Even if it doesn't kill, please don't use it on anyone. Stunning them would be scary for them."

Starr smiled again and nodded "If you get scared, you can tell us and we will try to make it not as scary."

He nodded, "O-okay." He blinked, "W-when will I be able to explore more...?" He moved his stump leg a bit. Until it was replaced he would be walkimg on three.

"We don't know exactly. I think Starr and I will be talking to some of the crew about it this evening, maybe?" Asher looked to Starr for confirmation.

Starr nodded "We will be going around and talking to the others to calm their fears and see what we can do."

He nodded, sighing aoctly, "I'm always scary to people... those with and without souls.."

Asher frowned. "Try not to take it personally. The people on Vestia have seen a lot of things that made them wary, they're scared of a lot of people, not just you. They warm up though, and they want nothing more than to help people who've been hurt, like you."

He shrugged, "Use to it."

"I hope you can get used to a calmer life" Starr said softly. Poor kid.

He looked at her not knowing what that meant but nodded in agreement.