tw for this chapter - Kidnapping, abuse, gore, body horror and slavery

"You think a little runt like you could defeat

the Demon Lord? Not a chance." The legendary mage glared deep into the trembling girl's eyes as she dangled in the air, suspended by the collar of her shirt.

She knew it was all true, too. She'd been completely useless in their last demon encounter-worse, she'd needed the party to protect her as well. But she hadn't had the fortitude to keep a stiff upper lip when she was being called useless. She'd tried to soften the blow by cracking a joke, by pushing back and that was how she ended up here.

Flum Apricot forced a smile, though tears burned at

the corners of her eyes. The man gave a derisive snort before making his exit. She stood there for some time, gazing down at her feet, before finally dragging her sleeve across her wet eyes

Her voice trembled as she spoke aloud to no-one in paticular "I never really wanted to be here in the first place you know..."

It had been foretold by Origin, the Divine Creator, that Flum would be one of the brave heroes who felled the Demon Lord but the other heroes were worlds apart

from Flum.

The man who had threatened her moments

ago was Jean Inteige, the brooding sage who could control the four elements of fire, water, wind, and earth.

Then there was Linus Radiant, the eagle-eyed archer who

could hit a target from miles away.

Maria Affenjenz was a merciful and affectionate holy woman who could heal

ailments of the body and mind.

Gadhio Lathcutt was armed with a massive blade that he wielded one-handed.

carving through even S-Rank monsters with ease.

Eterna Rinebow, known in some circles as the timeless witch, wielded such powerful magic that she could send her foes straight to the bottom of the sea.

And finally, there was Cyrill Sweechka, a young woman who exuded bravery and was said to be the savior born to rid the world of the Demon Lord.

They were each so famous in their own right that even a country bumpkin like Flum had heard of them.

It seemed like fate that they would join forces to destroy the Demon lord once and for all. And it was just as obvious that a small town girl like Flum didn't belong in such impressive company. 

The only thing she brought to the table was "Reversal," a bizarre status effect that even she didn't understand. It's only apparent effect was that it automatically turned all of her stats to zero.

When Cyrill told her that she was foretold to be one of the great heroes, Flum had no achievements to her name other than leading a quiet life in her village. She did her best to support the party however she could outside of combat, working harder than anyone on the team.

But even when Flum put her life on the line to protect another member of her party, taking injuries in the process, they just said it wasn't worth wasting their magic to heal her.

But yet she persisted.

When she fixed up some snacks to keep the party fed on their journey, they wouldn't deign her food worthy of eating unless she practically begged them to.

And yet even so, she persisted.

Looking back Flum had to admit she might have had something of a victim complex but be that as it may, it was undeniable that the other heroes treated her like a second class citizen. She couldn't understand how she'd ended up in this position or why she worked so hard for nothing. She tried to tell herself that she'd done her best, but in the back of her mind, she knew the day would finally come when she hit her limit.

Flum suddenly felt as if someone was watching her. For a second, she entertained the thought that one of the others had come to cheer her up, but it was just Cyrill, silently gazing at her.

Cyrill was short -- far shorter than Flum, in fact -- with loose blonde hair that dangled past her ears. However, there was a power deep within her that would make even the toughest demon tremble in fear.

Cyrill Sweechka was the textbook definition of a hero. 

Flum couldn't quite gauge what the what the other girl was thinking, but it was clear it wasn't anything positive. 

She decided to try and break the tension.

"H-hey, Cyrill..."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Cyrill spun on her heel and begun walking away.

Flum felt a knot tighten in her chest and tears well up in her eyes. She bit down hard on her lip to stop herself from crying.

She had been completely abandoned. 

When they first began their journey, Flum and Cyrill had been quite close. Not only were they both from small towns, but they were even close in age. However, as Flum's uselessness became more and more apparent, a rift began to form between the two women. Cyrill stopped trying to cheer her up, as if she didn't want to acknowledge Flum's existence.

Under any normal circumstances, Flum would never had agreed to join a party like this. But it had been foretold by Origin, and the decision wasn't hers to make. The people of the village had been so excited that there was a hero in their midst. How could she have backed out?

She couldn't help but wonder just what her friends and family would think of her now -- the young girl they had invested all their hopes and dreams in, now useless and wallowing in self pity, without a single ally to her name. Just the thought of all her friends and loved ones giving her the cold shoulder like Cyrill sent Flum sinking even further into despair. But giving up wasn't an option.

Even if she didn't want to do this, she still had a duty to see her job through.

Dragging a fist across her eyes to wipe away the tears, Flum took off at a jog after the party. No matter how the rest of the party treated her, she knew she had little choice but to rely on them.

She felt alone in the world, without a single person she could truly call a friend.

△△△

The continent was split right down the middle, with the humans living down to the south and the demons up to the north. The party was currently on a northward journey into demon territory, slowly but surely closing in on the castle of the Demon Lord.

While they were technically limited to what they could physically carry with them, Cyrill's Return spell allowed them to easily head back to the capital -- their home base, of sorts -- and pick up anything they were missing. Using the spell again would allow them to teleport back to a "saved" location.

However designating a "saved" location required the party to use an object known as a teleportation stone, an incredibly rare item found only in ancient ruins. With a finite supply and no means of making new stones, they could only use them sparingly and at pre-determined locations. What was more, only incredibly skilled mages -- Eterna and Jean, basically -- could use the powerful magic needed to create a save location using the teleportation stone.

The party would push forward and make some progress, save, return to the capital to replenish their supplies and then repeat the process all over again. Progress was slow, but they were making clear headway toward the Demon Lord's castle.

Today the party created a save point and used the Return spell once they'd made it to their objective for the day. They reappeared in the "teleportation room" in the palace basement. It was dark and out of the way of prying eyes, making it the perfect place to pop back into and out of the capital.

Eterna took in a deep, luxurious breath. It'd been several days since they'd been back.

"Haaaah, even the air tastes better here"

The air in the dank basement was hardly what could be charitably called fresh, but knowing there weren't enemies lurking around every corner probably helped. 

Maria nodded in agreement "There's just something so... flithy about the air up there"

Linus hurried over toward Maria, gesturing empathetically.

"I know we just got back and all, but we're all a little stiff, y'know. I'd be more than happy to give you a massage, Maria, and..."

The smile never left Maria's face as she shot Linus down. She used to flush and rebuke him whenever he cracked one of his off-color jokes but was used to it by now.

"Oh Linus, you know how I detest such lewd propositions"

Linus's shoulders slumped in disappointment, but he wasn't one to give up easily. He quickly pivoted to trying to line up a date

"... I was just gonna say, that something an old perv would say! Anyway how about you and me go grab a bite?"

Maria brought her hand to her mouth and gave a refined laugh,

"Well, I suppose I could do that"

Linus launched a fist up into the air, unable to contain his excitement.

"Aw'right!"

Without a word to the rest of the party, the two made their way out of the room. Jean shook his head and muttered in disdain to himself, but there wasn't much he could do about it. They were all allowed a bit of free time until they had to reassemble here in two days.

After Linus and Maria made their exit, the rest if the party slowly dispersed, each member heading off on their own until just Flum and Cyrill remained. Cyrill closed her eyes and concentrated. A moment later, the bejeweled sword she held in her hand disappeared in a flash, leaving only a glowing rune on the palm of her hand. She glared at Flum before turning and leaving the room in a huff.

Flum ran through scenarios in her mind but she couldn't figure out what she'd done wrong. She and Cyrill both loved sweets, and would usually head out to eat some cake together whenever they were in the capital, but it didn't seem like it was happening now.

Memories of her family and her family came flooding in.

"I wish I was home. I wonder what Mum and Dad are up to right now..."

It'd only been a few months since she left her village, but it felt like ages ago. The thought of being back with her warm and loving family brought tears to Flum's eyes, and she rubbed angrily at them and shook her head, deciding she wasn't going to let this get the better of her.

She didn't have time to sit around and feel bad for herself. There were supplies to purchase for their next excursion and only two days to do it. It was the least she could do for the party, considering she wasn't able to do much else in the way of support.

The corridor outside of the room was chilly and dimly lit. Flum spotted a man nearly doubly her size and outfitted in black amour, leaning against the walls with his arms crossed.

"Gadhio? Eterna? What are you doing here?"

She caught sight of Eterna standing in Gadhio's shadow. The mage stepped out and waved her hand. Her light blue leotard clung tightly to her skin, making her look like a fish gliding effortlessly through the air. Combined with her steepled headdress and flowing cape, a quick glance was enough to tell you that you were dealing with a rather peculiar mage.

"Going shopping, right? I've got a few things to attend to, so I thought I'd join you," Eterna announced

"Eterna told me to come along to help you carry your bags. I guess that's fair, though it's not exactly what I wanted to be doing with my free time"

Despite his grumbling, Flum could see a kind look on Gadhio's face.

Apparently they'd picked up on Flum's dismal mood and decided to wait for her. Gadhio had been an adventurer for many years, and Eterna, in spite of her youthful appearance, was a fair bit older than Flum.

Flum bowed down low.

"Th-thank you!"

Though a relatively simple offer on their part, it relieved some of the weight bearing down on the young girl. She felt a great sense of relief wash over her.

It was only a matter of time before she learned just how wrong she was.

△△△

After finishing up her shopping, Flum thanked her companions and parted ways with Eterna and Gadhio.

She dropped off her supplies and made her way to their inn, where, stepping into her room, she stopped to take a look at herself in the mirror and sighed. Even with the added hands to help her carry all her bags, Flum was exhausted.

Her stats were zeroes, after all. Her strength of 0 kept her from carrying any heavy items, and an endurance of 0 left her feeling out of breath after walking just a short way. It wasn't so bad that she couldn't live a normal life, but she was definitely less fit than the average person on the street. Even Flum was constantly annoyed by her own weakness.

This was nothing new, of course. It'd been like this ever since she was a kid, and it was all due to her damned affinity.

Everyone was born with an affinity, the most common of which were fire, water, earth, light and darkness. Depending on your magical ability, these affinities influenced what kind of magic you could use. A few unique people were born with affinities other than these six. Jean for example, had the "nature" affinity, granting him the ability to control fire, water, wind and earth. Cyrill was a "hero" which gave her access to exclusive spells. 

These "rare affinities" were generally far superior to the standard six that most of the population possessed. Alas, even these outliers had exceptions, and Flum's "reversal" affinity was one. Strength, magic, endurance, agility, perception -- her stats were zero across the board, and stubbornly refused to increase no matter what she did.

"At least the people back in my village were nice to me..."

Back in her hometown, no one made fun of her. The adults treated her like the other children, and the other children readily accepted her as one of them. In retrospect, maybe that had been the exception, not the rule.

Flum mentally cursed the hand fate had dealt her as she tumbled into bed and hugged her pillow tight. It felt so good to just lay there and rest. She was well and truly exhausted, and was about to call it a night when she was startled by a knock at her door.

"Who is it?" Her brain was still fuzzy.

"It's Jean. Listen, we need to talk"

This woke Flum right up. She quickly sprang to her feet and ran over to open the door, stumbling and scraping her knee on the way. She fought back the pain and turned the doorknob with the faintest hint of tears in her eyes. 

The sage stood on the other side of the door, a solemn look on his face.

"This is certainly a surprise, Jean. What can I do for you?"

"Come with me"

Despite being offered no information to go on, Flum didn't feel like she was in any position to turn Jean down. She quickly locked the door behind her and hurried after Jean.

The sage left the inn and moved quickly through the streets, not once bothering to check to see if Flum was actually following him. This wasn't because he trusted her but rather that there was no doubt in his mid that she would follow his every command.

Jean turned into a narrow alley lined with drunk, frail-looking men seeking what little warmth they could under threadbare blankets. Flum would have never come down here alone. Becoming more and more worried by the second, she finally spoke up.

"S-so, ummm, wh-where are we going, Jean?"

Alas he didn't even respond. She should have expected as much.

Flum continued to follow in silence as they wove through several alleys before ultimately ending up in a large, open area. They were in a part of the capital that she had never seen before -- which wasn't surprising, considering it was dozens of times larger than any other town she'd been to -- but this area was dark and dingy. It almost felt like a different city.

"I-Is this where we are headed?" she asked.

Jean finally turned to address his companion... by reaching out and grabbing a handful of her hair. He dragged Flum toward a man with a hunched back and insidious smile on his face.

"Ow, you're hurting me, Jean! Stop it!!"

Her screams fell on deaf ears, which was the whole point of bringing her here. Flum thrashed about in a desperate attempt to break free of Jean's grip but just wasn't strong enough.

"Well, well, well, your really did bring me somethin' purdy, dincha?"

The stranger clasped his hands and narrowed his gaze, examining every inch of Flum's body.

"Just taking out the trash, really." 

With that Jean tossed her at the man's feet.

"Nyak!"

Flum hit the ground with a painful thud and lay there for a moment. Her feet burned from the scrapes she'd gotten from being dragged along the floor. She turned and looked up at Jean, fear evident on her face, but was met with only a cool, emotionless expression in return.

Finally he began to speak.

"You have no notable lineage to speak of, and you don't even have the power to make up for that. All you've managed to do us waste out time and hold the rest of us back. Just knowing that I'm forced to breathe the same air as you makes me sick to my stomach. Quite frankly, I think I deserve some credit for having to put up with you this long."

"J-Jean?"

"Scum like you has no right to speak my name!!"

In his rage, Jean cast a spell to send a rock shooting straight towards Flum.

"Eek!"

The stone flew like an arrow past her face, slicing her left cheek. Flum brought her hand up to her cheek and felt something dampen her fingertips. Once she caught sight of the red liquid, she let out a cry of terror.

"Now, now, hold on there. You can't go damagin' the wares, y'know"

"My apologies, I lost my cool for a moment. It's a minor cut, at least"

"You're right there. It'll fade with time"

The man handed Jean a steel rod with a large lump at the end.

"Anyway, you can decide where that goes"

Jean took the rod in his hands and summoned up Heat -- his fire spell. Ever so slowly, the heat ran up the shaft and caused the chunk of steel at the end to glow red.

"You should be happy, Flum. I'm going to give you a role you can actually fufill"

"I-Is that...?"

"It's a branding iron -- the mark of a slave, to be exact. Even a lowly creature like yourself must have seen it before, right?"

A slave -- a human deemed legal for sale on the open market.

Slaves were generally restricted to those who had been born of slave parents or to certain classes of criminals as a form of punishment. Their overall numbers were on a gradual decline, but when land owning nobles went to war, the losing soldiers and villagers were often brought back to the capital and enslaved, too.

The last such war had continued until the kingdom managed to lay claim to much of the continent. Soon after, there had been a wave of the newly enslaved rebelling against their awful living and working conditions, fleeing to survive in the shadows and ultimately leading to an increase in crime. As a countermeasure, the government passed a law to permit the use of excessive violence against slaves, ultimately improving their standard of living... or so people thought. The law also provided for the recapture of so called "freed slaves", thereby giving rise to unregulated slave markets run by black marketeers who purchased slaves and sold them for all manners of worldly pleasures.

"Let me spell it out for you, Flum. All slaves in the kingdom must bear the mark of a slave somewhere on their body. And that is what this is. There are probably easier ways to do this, but I decided branding you was the only way I could get my true feelings through to you. What do you think? Pretty nice huh?"

Everything Jean said was true. A slave's mark needed to be visible at all times but it didn't need to be branded in to their skin. That her was about to put this chunk of glowing red metal on Flum's cheek was nothing short of his own twisted, personal desire.

"St-Stop! I don't want to be a slave!"

"You've no say in this"

"This is wrong, Jean! What gives you the right to make me a slave?"

The laws of this kingdom forbade forcing an innocent citizen into slavery. This could only mean one thing: that the man standing in front of her was a black marketeer. He had prepared all the necessary tools to complete her transition into slavery as soon as she was branded.

"...What gives me the right?" 

Jean's face contorted with barely controlled rage.

"Do you have any idea what you've put us all through, you little bi... Grah! If it weren't for you, we would have been well on our way to the demon lord by now! Your existence has done nothing but hold us back and undermine all of my well-laid plans. You're nothing more than a commoner, a talentless heap of cannon fodder! Why won't you take responsibility for your sins?!"

"Does...does the rest of the party know about this? I may be useless, but I don't exactly choose to be here you know! I was chosen, whether I wanted to be or not!"

"They know. Of course they do."

"You're lying! Are you saying Eterna and Gadhio didn't even try to stop you??"

Flum couldn't imagine her two recent shopping companions so easily agreeing to this idea.

Jean put an end to that fantasy.

"Oh they hesitated, sure. But they ultimately agreed it was for the best. All in the name of taking down the Demon Lord, you know. Besides let's face it, you were a greater burden on them than anyone else."

This, too, was true. Eterna and Gadhio were always looking out for Flum, which led her to relying on them all the more. Still, she couldn't -- she didn't want to believe it. Flum pushed on in desperation.

"What about Linus and Maria??"

"They said they didn't care. They had little to do with you, anyway."

This was true enough. Flum could hardly recall exchanging more than a few words with the two, so it was unlikely they'd stand up for her.

"Then what about... Cyrill?"

Cyrill had been giving her the cold shoulder lately, but they'd been friends not so long ago. It seemed preposterous that she'd so readily agree to selling Flum off as a slave.

The massive smile of Jean's face said otherwise.

"Oh, she readily agreed. In fact, she said she'd be happy to never see your face again"

"You lie..."

"It's all true"

"There's no way..."

"I'm telling you exactly what she told me"

Flum wailed in incomprehension, unwilling to believe what she was hearing. However Jean pressed on.

"You're being sold into slavery, and we're going to use that money to fund the party. It's not so bad, is it? You're actually contributing something, for once"

"I...I just wanna go hoooome!"

Betrayed by her party, the only people left in this world Flum truly felt she could rely on were those back in her home village.

But Jean wasn't done making Flum miserable quite yet. 

A cruel smile sprang to his lips.

"I wish I could, you know, but that'd be unfair to the poor folk who'd have to take care of a piece of trash like you,"

"Mum... Dad..."

"You know, they're probably humming as they go, enjoying a newfound life without a parasite of a daughter like you around. After all, all you ever really do is drag down other people and take up space. You should be happy that you left them the honour of being the parent of a supposed hero. Hahaha!"

Flum broke out in loud, wailing sobs as she tried to crawl away, but Jean wouldn't let up. Arms shot out of the earth and grabbed her arms and legs, holding her in place. She struggled against her bonds but was just too weak to break free.

Jean cackled menacingly as he brought the brand closer and closer to Flum's tear soaked cheek. It sizzled for a moment as it pressed into her flesh.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!!"

Her whole body contorted as she let out an ear shattering scream. Tears continued to flow down her cheek, turning to steam the moment they touched the hot brand. Flum shook her head violently in a desperate attempt to get away, but another earthly tendril wrapped around her neck, holding her head in place.

"Aaaaaaaugh!! Aaaaaaaaagguuuaaah!!! Gyaaaaaaugh!!"

Her voice grew hoarse, but her screaming didn't abate.

And as Flum endured the pain, Jean seemed to be enjoying himself all the more.

"Gwahahaha! Now this is poetic justice if I've ever seen it. Just look at you now! Gahahaha!"

"Aaaah...aaa.aaanng..."

Finally, Flum's voiced trailed off as losing conciousness gave her an escape from the pain. Her whole body was covered in sweat, from her shirt down to the comfortable shorts she always wore. No... it wasn't sweat that soiled the shorts. Flum had lost control of her bodily functions as she spasmed and twitched. It was altogether a shameful sight.

Jean peeled the slowly cooling branding iron away from Flum's face. The skin crackled and clung to it as he pulled back, finally separating it from her cheek with a final tug. He tossed the branding iron aside and turned towards the slave trader.

"Well you seem t'be enjoying yourself,"

The man didn't seem the least bit bothered by the disturbing scene that had just unfolded in front of him. He was, after all, someone who lived in the darkest corners of civilization.

"She's put me through a lot, you could say. In fact, I still don't feel like we're even"

"Well let's not do any more damage. You might kill her"

"Kill? I'm not some kind of monster, you know. Anyway, give me my money, and I'll be on my way."

The merchant pulled up a hemp bag and gave it a gentle shake, causing the coins inside to clack against each other. He handed it over to Jean.

"Here you go"

Jean hefted the bag to test the weight and gave a satisfied smile before turning around and leaving. Before he'd even left the small square, the merchant was tending to Flum with the supplies he'd readied in advance. The application of magical pigment would ensure the brand would never disappear.

From that moment on, Flum had lost all right and privileges to live life as a normal person.