In a remote slum alleyway somewhere, a little girl with radiant, white hair and crisp, lavender eyes that seemed to radiate an aura of determination and defiance was slumped up against a shoddy, wooden wall. In front of her, 3 large men, sporting particular bandannas made of some sort of beast hide or leather, were busy laughing amongst themselves.

"Say, Greg, this brat really thought she could escape us, doncha think?" one of the men said.

"Huehue, methinks so, my lord," another, evidently Greg, replied. The 3rd man stayed silent, but still maintained a wicked grin.

The child struggled to get up off the ground, but the closest man to her, Greg, shoved her back down. Her head slammed against the wall hard and made a dull 'thud' audibly.

"Hey, hey, don't crack 'er skull open," the 'lord' complained. "We still need to find out where she stashed the goods."

The girl groaned and grabbed her head, clutching it in obvious pain. Then, she suddenly rolled in between the men's legs and sprinted off down the alley.

"Fuck!" they all yelled and chased after her.

They quickly caught her, though, due to her relatively tiny frame and short legs. After once again throwing her to the ground, Greg picked her up by the cuff and spat in her face.

"Who the fuck do you think we are, bitch?" he said before throwing her into another wall.

The girl slammed hard into it and crumpled like a ragdoll. Greg stepped forward and kicked her hard in the ribs, grabbed her by the face, and pinned her to the wall. The fierce determination and defiance in her eyes were still evident, but were obviously faltering.

"Is that enough, or do you want more?" Greg asked.

The girl only answered his question with the continuous silent gaze.

"Damn it! Fuck, you asked for it." Greg spat. He proceeded to squeeze her head with his bare palm harder and harder until the girl's skull started fracturing. Rough, pained breathing exited her mouth, but nothing more.

"Urrrgh," Greg growled, increasing how much pressure he exerted incrementally until he was squeezing as hard as he could. "Fuck! My lord, what do I do to this bitch?"

The man approached from behind and inspected the child.

"She's not going to talk. We'll search for it ourselves," he determined after a moment. "Do with her as you please."

The girl mentally gleamed with glee; everything was going according to plan. These haughty nobles didn't have the guts to kill her in public. She felt that she was lucky that at least one of them was first, smart enough to read her gaze and declare that she was unyielding, and secondly, not smart enough to realize that it was an act. If these people really were going to kill her, she'd give them the location of the magical bracelet immediately.

The girl was proud of her acting skills and talking ability. On top of her petite frame, beautiful face, and general childish appearance, her ability to talk or act her way out of a situation was phenomenal.

Greg nodded and slammed her head against the wall. As he did, a streak of panic showed up on her face. Greg then dropped her onto the ground. He turned away and started to follow his master out of the alleyway.

At that moment, the 3rd man, who had been previously silent, spoke up. "Shouldn't we.. use her to satisfy ourselves, at least a bit?"

The lord turned around and glared at the man. "Do you wish to sully the entirety of our bloodline single-handedly? Sigh, children don't suit my palate much, and letting a servant like Greg use her would spoil her for any of us lords. Do you want her, William?"

The man hesitated slightly before nodding in the affirmative. "She's really exotic. Look at that white hair and purple eyes! Even if we don't pass her around, she'd be quite the valuable maid servant, given the proper training."

The lord sighed and nodded towards Greg.

Greg went back to the unconscious girl. "She's probably got some brain damage, ya know?"

William looked nonchalant and replied, "Who cares? Healing magic is easily enough achievable. Even if we can't fix her, her womanhood still functions."

Greg stared at William oddly for a moment, then turned to pick the girl up. He swung her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and followed his lord out of the alley.

..

The girl, after losing her consciousness, found herself in a magical white void, devoid of everything but a curious pink apparition the size of an apple. She attempted to address it to alleviate her confusion, but couldn't manage to produce a sound.

"No talking, please." A soothing, relaxing voice massaged her ears. "I'm in no mood to put up with any more human stupidity this decade. I will tell you what you will do, whether you like it or not. For, if you disobey me, you will quickly find yourself at the end of the road, and I know your goal. It is easily achievable for myself... and most of the demigods at this point, I suppose.

"You, girl, have no name. Hence, I will bestow you one to use to finish my quest. Mintaka, as I deem it, I expect you to follow my every whim and bidding. You will find yourself at your goal by the end of my quest. Any resistance will nullify that, however.

"If you agree, nod and I will send you back with your body restored. If not, shake your head and I'll send you back with nothing changed. You will be paralyzed from the waist down and will have severe memory issues."

Mintaka quickly accepted the proposal and nodded her head. As she did, she felt a faint malevolent aura emit out of the pink apparition.

"Yes, you would have always made that choice. Nothing has changed, then. My first goal for you: become powerful. I will tell you when you have accomplished this. Goodbye."

Mintaka felt herself get sucked out of the white void.

...

Mintaka woke up in her body. She was in a dark room with metal bars consisting of the entirety of one of the walls. There was also a window made from similar bars opposing that wall. The window was about 6 feet off the ground, so Mintaka had no way of seeing of it.

Other than those 2 things, there was some furnishing. A disgusting metal pot that smelled of feces was sat in the corner and a rough hay bed was laid out opposite from it. There wasn't a pillow, but Mintaka was used to sleeping in the mud, so this was an upgrade to her previous circumstances.

Mintaka bided her time and sat around in the cell for a few hours. In the meantime, she tried to drag the bed over to the window so she could look out of it, but found to her dismay that the bed was bolted to the ground somehow, despite no physical tells.

The girl tried to jump up and grab the iron bars, but her malnourished frame kept her from being able to lift herself up the extra distance. She could hardly even hold on to the bars for more than a few seconds.

Mintaka did listen intently out the window for any signs of where she could possibly be, but heard no sounds. Natural light did ooze through it, though, so it was almost certainly an access to the outside.

She turned her head to the opposite side of the room and looked out the metal bars. There was a similarly metal door made from bars situated into the wall. There was a thick, metal lock embedded into it though, discouraging any breaking through with force.

Mintaka knew of people that could most likely break the lock with force or pick it, but she could do neither, especially without any tools. The urchin life was a rough one; no one wanted to share techniques or information since it could one day be a matter of life and death. These homeless vagabonds were in their respective situations due to outside influence, and were thusly untrusting of most people. If they weren't homeless from outside circumstances, they quickly died off from inadequacy. It was truly a rough life.

Mintaka tried to observe around through the bars, but the only light was coming from the small window behind her. She couldn't make out much of anything.

Mintaka thereafter quickly ran out of things to do. She sat down on the slightly uncomfortable bed and closed her eyes.

Eventually, she heard some footsteps. She looked up and saw a metal helmet illuminated by the torch it was carrying.

"Prisoner, stand up and face the rear wall with your hands above your head. Stay doing so until I declare otherwise," the armored man spoke loudly. An extremely concise, formal tone was easily identified within his speaking, but was slightly botched from the distortion provided by the armor.

Mintaka was used to his kind. City guards were usually that type. She knew it would be futile to complain or resist after taking a quick look at his sheathed sword dangling on his waist and obliged.

She couldn't see what the man was doing behind her, but did hear his clanky metal footsteps approach her.

"Come with me. Lord William wishes to see you," he whispered into her ear.

Mintaka felt a chill trickle down her spine and her heartbeat starting inclining dramatically. William was going to have his way with her at this rate, but what could she do but listen quietly and obey?

She nodded, still facing the wall.

"Good," the man sneered. He wrapped something- most likely a type of hemp rope- around Mintaka's hands and pulled them down behind her. Mintaka felt the man's metal gloves roughly tie the rope around her hands. He then spun her around twice and tied a slip knot tightly against her chest, completely inhibiting any arm movement. He then yanked her forwards with it.

"Get up, we're going," he said and started to walk out of the cell, picking up his torch out of a sconce on his way out.

"Fuck," Mintaka grumbled and hastily got up with some awkwardness and started walking with the rope dragging her along. The guard left about 5 feet of slack between them.

The pair walked down a hallway, down a set of stairs, through another hallway, and then entered a room, Mintaka noted. She could find her way back to the stairs if she ever needed to escape. There were some branching hallways and other floors that she could access if needed.

The guard entered the room first, Mintaka in tow. "Be respectful, prisoner. Your life is in my lord's hands."

Mintaka glared back in response. The guard snorted and pushed her in front of him. She fell to her knees and looked up and the man in front of her: William.

She now took a better glance at the man. He was quite tall and thin. He had light, hazel-colored hair fashioned with a lavish amount of grease. A sickly aura radiated out from his eyes and smile. Despite his displayed arrogance, he looked more like a starving commoner than an overbearing ruler to Mintaka.

The room itself was lavishly decorated, with pointless art pieces strewn about the walls, various masonry works put atop exquisite wooden pedestals, and a massive wolf head hung up above the couch.

Mintaka identified a single door about 15 feet away from her that she could possibly use to escape, since the noble's bedroom should be just past it and bedrooms usually have windows.

"Grovel, subhuman. You should be grateful to be graced by my presence alone, subhuman, let alone my overflowing benevolence. If it wasn't for me you, subhuman, would be out on the streets once more, dying a pitiful dog's death."

William's attitude had taken a significant turn for the worse in private, it seemed. Mintaka mentally prepared herself to be used as a sex toy here and now.

No matter what, she couldn't die. Dying never was, is, or will be an option. Pride, integrity, conviction, purity, faithfulness, appearance, sanity- how could any of these hold up in the face of death? The only thing anyone should ever strive for is immortality! With it, the game of life will never end. And, if it does, she would be the winner of it all regardless.

Hence, Mintaka would gladly lose her virginity to this disgusting man in front of her before ever taking the risk of being killed by him. She proceedingly kowtowed with her head to the boards.

"Heh," he laughed. "Good slave. I'm going to train you well. Guard! Leave us." He beckoned the guard away and got up off his couch.

Mintaka heard the guard get off the ground and leave, closing the door behind him.

William walked up to the still-kowtowing Mintaka and grabbed her by the chin. "Sorry for the delay. You know how it is, I'm sure," he said with a sly grin. "It's so hard to bring in sex slaves these days. Have to act like they're real prisoners first and put them through the process. Then, if one happens to disappear, well, no one bats an eye."

He threw her aside and continued, "How old are you? Not that I expect you to know, stupid ignorant slum girl," he chortled.

Mintaka silently took the physical and verbal abuse and replied calmly, "This lowly slave does not know, my lord. This lowly slave's age could be anywhere from 8 to 11."

"Good, good. Now, tell me, have you lost your purity?"

"Yes, this lowly slave lost her purity to a man 2 years ago and had repeated sexual intercourse with him for protection and food," Mintaka easily lied. After all, a slave with less value had less attention paced upon it.

A look of disgust and annoyance appeared on the previously haughty face of William. "And who was this man that you speak of?"

"The name of this lowly slave's previous benefactor is Mome, my lord."

"Mome? What does he do?" William asked, now visibly confused.

Mintaka suddenly had an idea flash through her head and started monologuing.

"Mome was a very strong man. He worked in the smithy as he owner's assistant. This lowly slave one day stumbled into the smithy while it was raining, looking for shelter. I, completely soaked, was suffering from a severe cold. The benevolent Mome took me in and laid me to rest in his own bed. The mean owner said, 'Take that thing out where you found it,' but Mome protected me until I got well.

"However, all good things must come to an end. Alas, once I was no longer sick, even the benevolent Mome couldn't keep me, a frail little girl, in the smithy. So I begged and pleaded with him, 'Please, benevolent Sir Mome, please let me stay with you. The outside world, it is so harsh and violent, how could a little girl like me survive out there? I will even repay you with my purity and dignity whenever you see fit!'

"Mome liked that, he most certainly did. However, Mome was a big man. He was easily over 6 foot 4 and weighed at least 230 pounds of pure muscles! Unfortunately for me, his unit down below was fitting for his size. Standing at a colossal 9 inches, those were a rough 2 years for me. So, sadly, this lowly slave is no longer fitting for acting in sexual intercourse for anyone as noble and lofty as yourself, my lord."

Mintaka acted the entire farce out like a play, rolling her tongue when fit, elevating and softening her voice to the tone, and making various, profound hand gestures to follow along.

William, a noble, did have his taste for flair and theatrics. He had seen a few plays in his time and realized that the tiny child in front of him had acting talent just slightly lesser than the first-rate actors in the royal troupe.

The tall noble looked down at the little girl acting in front of him and said, with a keen gleam in his eyes, "Say, what if I recommend you to join the royal troupe of actors? All I'd ask in exchange is that you give me your salary- the rest of your daily living expenses will be paid for by the troupe. And, of course, the location of the bracelet that you stole."

Mintaka thought back to her quest from that strange deity and nodded her head.

With the added influence from the troupe, perhaps she could get entered to a magic academy to become a mage. While this greedy bastard in front of her wanted her direct income himself, there were always ways to accumulate wealth. The only problem was that she didn't know how much such an academy would charge, or if it was paid yearly or all at once.

"Good, good," William said with a haughty grin once again stretched across his face. "You may address me as, 'My Lord,' or ,'Lord William,' as you see fit. What is your name, if you even have one?"

"This lowly slave was granted the name 'Mintaka', Lord William."

"Okay, Mintaka, I'll see to it that you get the proper recognition that you deserve. For now, talk to the guard waiting outside. He will escort you to a spare room of mine," William said and waved her off.

Mintaka bowed and took her leave. As she was about to open the door, William continued. "Also, I'll be seeing you tomorrow about that location of that bracelet."

Mintaka turned around and once again bowed. Upon exiting the room, she saw the guard that had previously tied her up and led her here.

He sighed and beckoned her to follow him, walking down the hallway in the opposite direction from which they originally came from.

Mintaka was led to a room a few hundred feet away. On the way there, the pair had passed by an open courtyard filled with trees, a pond, bountiful flowers and even a small rock garden. From that, she found out that it was evening. Mintaka was disgusted, and also understanding, of the pointless grandeur.

From the perspective of a poor person, she was disgusted that none of the money was used help commoners out. If she had just a single sapphire, her entire life could have turned around. The magic bracelet that she had stolen was most likely worth at least 10 emeralds. Alas, she could only get fractions of fractions of that money in the end. There were too many people working on the case for her to get a noteworthy amount. As the bait and diversion, she probably wasn't even expected to return alive to collect her payment. She had hoped otherwise, but it didn't seem like she would after all.

Contrarily to her opinion from a commoner's point of view, from the perspective of someone that wanted to become a powerful figure in the future, Eureka understood the incentive to hoard wealth. There was little chance that the money spent on commoners would ever come back to the nobles' pockets.

The guard opened the door for Mintaka and let her inside. Once she was in, he closed it just after saying, "Someone will get you in the morning. Go to sleep."

Mintaka nodded and went over to her bed. It was of good quality, far superior than anything she had ever slept in before. She undressed herself and went to sleep, the exhaustion from the hectic day overruling the rest of her desires.

Just before passing out, she muttered, "This life of mine.. how will you turn out?"