Hours later, Varya woke up for the second time that day, but without the illusion that she was still on Earth. This time, her slumber was interrupted by a loud noise.
She pulled the blankets off of her and smoothed down her hair with one hand while rubbing the tired out of her eyes with the other. A yawn escaped her lips before she realized who was standing in the doorway of her room.
There stood the monster of her nightmares, the alien they called Emperor Kruos.
Varya heard a growl to her right and looked over to see Prince Basileus crossing his arms and looking defiantly at the monster. She noticed his spandex suit pulled down around his waist, the arms of it tied out of the way, and his well-defined chest glistening with sweat. She quickly turned her attention back to the alien, stopping that train of thought before it could go further.
"It's always a pleasure, Prince of Nothing, but I'm not here for you," Kruos let his eyes drift from Basileus to Varya. Varya couldn't help stepping back, causing her to fall onto the bed.
"Perfect, just where I wanted you," the alien laughed.
Kruos swiftly moved towards the young girl and placed himself so he was standing between her legs that were hanging over the edge of the bed. He leaned forward and rested his hands on either side of Varya's head. Varya was shaking with fear and couldn't do anything but stare up at him while her blue eyes begged him to stop.
Basileus was uncomfortable with the way Kruos was acting but, from experience, he couldn't intervene without a death wish. He stood back, watching Kruos scare the girl but all he could do was fume.
"Your fear…" Kruos licked Varya's cheek between whispers "… tastes delicious."
Varya whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands fought to push him away but it was no use, he didn't move even an inch.
A laugh escaped Kruos's lips and he got off the bed. As he stood up, he used one of his hands to grab her shirt and bring her up with him, slightly tearing the material under his claws. "Unfortunately, that's not why I'm here. Ebari?" He looked over his shoulder as a tall alien with long, red braided hair and pale green skin came into the doorway. His yellow eyes were blank. He was around the same age as Varya and Basileus. Something about his feminine features reminded Varya of an elf. He wore a navy blue spandex suit similar to Basileus, but he had metal armor that covered his chest and stomach. On Earth, she had only ever seen this kind of armor in museums. Again, it reminded her of Ancient Greece.
Varya instantly found Ebari attractive while Basileus, on the other hand, fumed even more at the presence of the elf-like alien.
"Yes, sire?" Ebari's voice was smooth and indifferent. He didn't even seem fazed by how roughly his master was treating Varya.
"Take the girl where I told you. I need to speak to this beast," Kruos gestured toward the prince with a disgusted look on his face.
Varya stood up and ran as quickly as she could away from the disgusting alien. She stood behind Ebari. Compared to Kruos, Ebari seemed harmless.
Ebari handled Varya a lot more gently than Kruos did. He touched her shoulder and motioned for her to follow him down a hallway. They stopped at a seemingly blank wall, but after pressing a metal square with the palm of his hand, a closet slid open.
"Take your clothes off," he instructed.
"Wh-What?" Varya's eyes widened and her arms crossed over her chest as if she were already naked.
"Take your clothes off," he repeated, "your clothing is not appropriate for space travel. On Emperor Kruos's ship, all on board must follow uniform protocol."
Ebari's emotionless voice caused her to frown. She squeezed her eyes shut knowing there was no other way. With shaking hands, Varya slid out of her clothes. Her white shirt was torn from Kruos and her pants had blood stains on them where her knees hit the pavement. At this point, she didn't know where her boots were. She was left only in a lacy, nude bra and matching underwear. Ebari looked her over, but his expression didn't change.
"Take those off too."
Before he was done speaking, Varya knew what he was going to say and she interrupted him, "Privacy, please."
Once he was turned away, she took a deep breath and undid her bra then pulled down her underwear. The cold air in the hallway caused goosebumps to form all over her pale skin. She was nervous that anyone could walk by and kept glancing in either direction. Her arms covered her round breasts and her legs were tightened together.
The illusion of privacy was shattered as Ebari turned around. He avoided looking at her. His hand reached out and she thought he was grabbing for her until his hand met something to her left side.
"You'll be wearing this," he said.
He pulled down a spandex suit. It was navy blue, but it didn't have any special insignias on it. Ebari also grabbed a pair of white leather boots and he gave them to her without hesitation.
"Wh-why are you making me do this? I'll do anything to go back home." Her voice was shaky and her eyes pleaded with him. She had never been so uncertain and vulnerable in her life.
Ebari looked around the empty hallway before crouching down so he was at eye level with Varya. "I'm extremely sorry I am making you do this, but if I don't listen to Lord Kruos I will lose a lot more than just my life…"
Her chin started shaking as she looked into his golden eyes now level with her blue ones. She could tell he was telling the truth. Without meaning anything by it, she moved forward so she could wrap her arms around him, her nudity forgotten as fear set in. Her naked body pressed against his metal armor caused her to shiver from the sensation, feeling even colder than before.
"Please don't let them hurt me," she said urgently, her face pressed into his neck, begging for any kind of comfort in this cold place. "I'll do anything. I just don't want to be here anymore."
Ebari jumped away from her, not knowing what may happen if he was caught with an unclothed woman clinging to him like that. Flustered, he tossed his long braid over his shoulder. Once composed, he shook his head again and gave her the suit.
"I'm sorry…" is all Ebari could say.
Varya took a shaky breath to try and calm down. Who could she trust here? There were so many unanswered questions swirling around in her mind. She never felt so lost. Taking another deep breath, she decided all she could do was go with the flow, not knowing what the beings around her were capable of.
Having the suit in her hands, she could now tell the material was far from spandex. It was much thicker than expected, but extremely flexible. The material also seemed sturdy.
There were no visible zippers or any other closures, so she had to stretch out the neckline in order to step into it and get it over her legs and hips. Once she pulled it over her chest and slipped her arms into the sleeves, she was grateful she felt warmer, but the neckline was cut into a v and showed more cleavage than she would like considering how uncertain the beings around her made her feel. She had never been afraid to show off her figure, but she didn't feel safe here or in control in any way. She wanted to draw as little attention to herself as she could.
Meanwhile, while Varya was down the hallway with Ebari, Kruos shut the door and stepped closer to Basileus.
"Are you ready to have a little bit of fun with her?" Kruos asked Basileus and smirked when there was no response. "Isn't she something?" Kruos's laughter couldn't be contained and it made Basileus scowl.
Basileus simply crossed his arms in defiance. There was no way in hell Kruos was trying to force that weak woman upon him.
Kruos was known for his sexual deviancies. He was a powerful alien with access to many vulnerable people and he didn't discriminate in the bedroom. Due to his power, everyone was a pawn in his game.
"Think of all the fun you could have with her, prince." Kruos clasped his hands in front of him.
"No." Basileus uncrossed his arms and his stance became rigid, as if bracing himself. There was no way in hell he was going to get involved in any part of Kruos's sick games.
"The more you resist, the more you will want her," Kruos's purple eyes glimmered and he smiled, sure of his own words.
"I have the self-control that those of your breed seem to lack," Basileus shot back.
Kruos suddenly launched forward and chopped Basileus in the chest with his hand, his razor sharp nails causing a large cut to open. Blood started dripping down the prince's muscular chest. While Basileus was occupied, holding the fresh wound, Kruos hit him with a final blow to the face and laughed as Basileus flew limply against the wall. "It's only a matter of time. We'll see how long it takes."
Kruos exited the room with one glance back at the pathetic prince.
Basileus lay there bleeding and helpless, his hand covering what it could of the cut on his chest. His eyes shut and he took deep breaths as he considered Lord Kruos's words. The planet he was from was known for the seriousness they had on life partners. It was common for individuals to be with one person their entire life and, if their partner died early, never seeking out anyone else. The act of taking someone's virginity was sacred to them because it caused them to completely attach to another person, causing a huge vulnerability for them. He couldn't picture himself becoming so mindlessly obsessed with some woman. Those from Planet Basileus also had longer than average lifespans and, him being in his early 20's meant that he was coming into sexual maturity.
Basileus was under the assumption that he could control himself and remain unattached to anyone.
Ebari led Varya back to the door of the room where Kruos stood, waiting impatiently. His eyes drifted over her new attire and he smirked. "It's perfect, Ebari, don't you agree?"
"Yes, sire," Ebari's gaze was empty and his voice was unattached, but Kruos still believed his words and laughed at his subordinate's validation.
"I would like to warn you that the prince might be a little mad when you get in there," the tyrant said with a smug smile. "I had to teach him an important lesson and we shared a few words."
As Varya walked to the door, waiting for it to open, Kruos smacked her backside hard enough to make a cracking noise and, if her skin were to be visible, an angry, red handprint was left behind. She tried not to react but couldn't help the yelp that escaped her lips and her hands planted against the nearby wall so she wouldn't fall.
The door finally opened and Varya scrambled in, trying to get away from the monster. She was thankful when the door slid shut, separating her from Emperor Kruos and Ebari.
She looked down at her outfit and pulled at the neckline so less of her chest was exposed.
Remembering Kruos's words about Prince Basileus, she looked up.