As I woke up I felt well rested.

Taking in my surroundings I felt I was laying on my back on a soft cozy mattress. My head was resting on a fluffy pillow and I was covered with a soft and cozy blanket.

Why was there a dull pain at the top of my sternum?

Memories of what only could have been a nightmare flooded my mind. Normally I didn’t remember dreams.

I felt ... different.

Slowly I realized it wasn’t a dream. Shivers ran down my spine while my heart started racing. More and more fragments of memories danced through my head like a whirlwind. Collecting all my resolve I focused on breathing. Gradually I calm down enough to think clearly again.

After a while I felt bold enough to open my eyes.

Even after waiting a while to adjust everything was pitch dark. After calming down further I heard steady breathing from both sides. Alessia and Gordon.

After collecting the last resolve I could find I slowly let my left hand slide along my tummy. It felt taut under the soft cloth. Occasionally I passed ruffles, blushing.

Carefully I went past flat breasts up to my sternum. Brushing over the painful spot was a bad idea. I gasped and flinched as flash pain exploded from the burning spot .

Pulling away my hand I reached for my chin. There was no trace of a beard. Touching all over my face I only found soft, smooth skin.

My hair was long, but longer as usual though. While fondling a strand of my hair I sled my right hand over my hip while starting to pull my heels up to my bottom.

While inching my right hand towards the place between my legs, my knees were suddenly stopped on their way up by something taut but flexible.

Startled I froze and held my breath for while. Nothing else happened for a while. After a while I felt courageous enough to finally reach that place between my legs which was covered by the nightgown.

Tentatively applying a bit of pressure I confirmed that that part wasn’t there anymore. I pulled the hand up to my tummy while taking in what I just felt.

After a while I took my arms out from under the blanket to examine the strange thing I touched with my knees. It was over my head as well. Exploring further I assessed it had roughly the form of a half tube over the bed.

Curiously I applied more pressure. Apparently it budged only briefly gradually hardening out stopping my hand completely.

Feeling much calmer now I contemplated the situation.

After a while Alessia stirred to my left. After a groan I heard her yawning, quickly followed up by a short yelp.

“Hi.” I whispered in Alessia’s direction. “Did you sleep well?” I asked.

Alessia yawned again.‘

‘Morning. How are you doing?” she whispered back after a few moments.

“I-I’ll manage.”

“It was a hard day. Especially for you.”

“It’s. It’s. different, you know.”

“I suppose.”

“The shit we went through after the summoning was worse.”

“We all saw it.”

“We should talk when Gordon is awake. In private.”

“We should. And. Come to me if you want to talk. Okay? I owe you.”

“Sure.”

I heard a groan from Gordon’s side.

“Morning.” She yawned.

“It’s dark!” Her voice went an octave higher.

“Morning” Alessia and I replied in unison.

“How are you doing?” Alessia asked.

“I feel great!” Gordon exclaimed

“Yesterday was horrible tough!” he grumbled.

“I see.” I replied a bit flustered.

“Gordon.” Alessia piped in.

“Oh. I-I-I...“ Gordon stuttered.

“It’s okay.” I interjected.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t think . I’m really sorry!” Gordon rummaged with his sheets.

“Don’t be!” I tried to stay calm.

“You chose what you felt was best for you.” It messed up my side of the deal though.

“B-But I was selfish and now you are suffering because of me being insensible.” he blubbered.

“Hear me out please. It wouldn’t have made a difference for you if you had decided otherwise.” I tried to calm her down.

I whisked away some tears from my eyes and twisted myself to lie on my stomach. I propped my head on my arms.

“But ...” he started.

“No but. Would you have decided different Alessia would be the one in my spot. It would be the same situation for you in the end.” It had been a mess.

There had been no good choice for him I suppose.

“I agree.” Alessia chimed in

“And you would have regretted your decision the rest of your life. To be frank. It is hard for me and I’ll certainly will need much time to adjust. I’m willing to try though. It okay to be a bit selfish once in a while. Especially if it makes no difference in the end. I don’t want you to feel guilty about this. Really.” I tried holding back my tears.

After that the dam broke and tears were streaming down my checks. “All of us agreed to that ritual. All.” I blubbered. Totally exhausted mentally I buried my head in my pillow, weeping.

“We still should talk about yesterday and decide what to do.” My voice was still quavering, after I regained my composure.

“As long as we have privacy.” I was sure we wouldn’t stay in here all day.

“I’ll try to sum up yesterday first.” Alessia sounded calm and collected.

“We died and appeared in a strange place with many others. We got split up from the rest and after some prodding around we met this Solana. What she told us of the summoning was true as far as we know now. Thus trusting her wasn’t a complete failure. We made ... choices. Our plan avoiding to join the army of that country..” She paused for a moment.

“Arhithrea.” Gordon chimed in.

“Arhithrea. It worked so far, but with a dire price. We are slaves now. A mere commodity. Despite arriving here was a pain, I think it was worth it. We don’t know much of our current owners though, but last the evening was promising.” She paused for a moment.

‘Comments? Something to add?” she finally asked.

There was nothing to add from my side.

“No.” Gordon and I answered in unison.

“Well. I assume we all want to get out of this slavery thing.” I piped up.

“Definitely.” Alissa and Gordon replied unison.

There is something up with us managing to say the same thing at the same time that often.

“We just met yesterday. On the other hand we’re all stuck in the same mess. We do have something in common as well, thanks to this group ritual. We should move on together.” This was the most viable way from my point of view.

“I’m in.” Gordon joined in.

“It makes sense in way. I’m in as well” Alessia seemed to be a reliable ally.

“ We could be like sisters!” Alessia sounded intrigued.

“Like sisters?” Gordon sounded baffled.

“Yeah. We look like triplets anyway and I would like to have two cute and adorable sisters.” Alessia swooned.

“Sisters it is then?” I asked slightly blushing.

“Deal!” they replied.

“Well covered that up, running away at some point should be well prepared. There is no point being caught again thereafter. Fleeing again would be more difficult thereafter.

There are at least three things which come to my mind we should do in advance.

First we should learn the language they speak here.

Second we should learn about society, geography, politics and such. Especially if there are places to avoid or even place we could run to.

Third is researching these marks on our chest. We already noticed they have certain powers. Maybe they act as tracking devices as well.” I went went over the obvious points.

“Finding something out about the marks may be difficult. I would make such stuff confidential, at least for ones who got them.” Alessia laid out.

“We should play along regarding our owners. The more they trust us the better are our chances.” Gordon added.

“Let’s be obedient and diligent and cute little slave girls.” Alessia agreed.

I blushed. Fortunately she couldn’t see it.

Suddenly my bed started to move. I yelped. This squeaky voice! Blinking into the muted daylight dazzled me for a moment.