Lets go with Satoru (Shin Sekai Yori) as Sam ^

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One by one, each Noble was called upon to choose a Drow for their household. Mikyla recognised some of the more famous ones due to family names for brands and patents she used to use in her previous life but the Nobles must have done their research too because none of them hesitated when choosing their Drows. In fact, the research must have been extensive because if Mikyla was not mistaken, the Drows chosen went in a descending order of wealth and status.

As time dwindled on, the Drows picked were further afar into the outskirts until eventually only the lowest class of Drows remained. Mikyla hated the process, it was more of an auction than anything else. To the Nobles, they weren't Elves so much as objects - the wealthier one's being of more importance. This was made clear when Mikyla was met by a crowd of disappointment when she chose Lavender - a middle-class Drow - but what surprised Mikyla the most was when Sam then went on to choose Natasha when he knew full well that she was at an even lower end of the spectrum than Lavender was.

Eventually, each Drow was chosen with a Noble either smirking or scowling at their picks. For a moment during the selection process, Mikyla feared that a Drow would be left behind and although she hated the idea of domestic slavery she knew it would be worse to be unchosen. Being unchosen was a rare occurence though, not since the implementation of the population quota, nonetheless, the Drow population still severely outnumbered the Nobles and the effects of the quota wouldn't come into effect for another few years. For those unlucky enough to be unchosen, they were usually forced into cheap labour or became a replacement servant when the time was right or-

"It is now time to create the Contracts!" The principals booming voice shattered the quiet mutterings of gloat and scorn in the Noble audience. "Young masters of noble houses, please take a stand by your Drows so that the ceremony may come to fruition."

Without further instructions, the Nobles shuffled towards their respected servants, their haste to have as little contact with the Drows as apparent in the contrast of skin tones. The feeling was definitely mutual in that aspect with Mikyla struggling not to meet a death glare as she waded her way towards Lavender. She tried to crack a comforting smile as she met up with the Drow but Mikyla's efforts were promptyl met with a snort and a physical barrier of crossed arms.

Mikyla hesitated at the slight hostility and her expression dropped slightly to one of regret. She was only trying to make the best of the situation but the response was perfectly understandable. In another universe, it would have been her who was branded and she couldn't count the amount of times she had given Lysander the cold shoulder.

"Now - prepare yourselves." The principal boomed once more.

Like a wind raging through a meadow, a flurry of white fluttered within Mikyla's peripheral as a series of gloves were stripped to reveal the dreaded mark. At the same time, an army of heads bowed as hats were lifted off to reveal a more modest mark, yet unsightly northeless.

Lavender was one of the last to comply, having tightly gripped the wrist of the glove hiding the mark. For a second Mikyla feared Lavender would refuse but begrudgingly she too slowly peeled off the alabaster material revealing something that made Mikyla's stomach turn more than curdled milk.

The mark is welt looked horrendous. Mikyla could almost feel the searing pain as if it were brandish upon her own skin yet the welt should have been healed by now. It looks like it's been picked at, or rather, torn at. The skin hadn't been left to heal and if Mikyla didn't know better, the skin looks almost raw enough to have been peeled off. Would Miyla have gone that far? Would she have gone to the extent of slicing off the top layers of skin just to get rid of the mark?

Mikyla gulps as she realises she actually would. She thought getting the mark would be the hardest thing in the world but seeing someone else struggle so much and having no power to do anything about it was even worse. Especially since she was a Noble. Especially as power was her birthright.

"Now commence!" A gong echoed throughout the courtyard but this time instead of a wake of silence, an orchestra of snakelike whispers composed a starting symphony.

Not fully aware of the right procedure, Mikyla looked around as naturally as possible, not wanting to arouse anymore unwanted attention. Surprisingly, during the sweep search Mikyla had found that her worries were all for naught - without even realising it, she had clasped Lavender's mark in both of her own hands and the words of contract had already started to gush out of her mouth like a raging waterfall.

The words flowed as easy, if not easier, than breathing. They seemed to almost spiral of her tongue, around her arm and then into the now glowing mark sandwiched between Mikyla's hands. It was enchanting to say the least but then a switch seemed to flick off in Mikyla's head and she shut her mouth.

As soon as Mikyla shut her mouth, she felt an invisible force push against the back of her teeth, a caged animal fighting to get out. It felt natural to let it out but Mikyla hesitated and the animal retreated. Mikyla would stop it no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to hex the curse which brought nothing but calamity.

Almost immediately in response, Mikyla felt Lavender's hand pull back and a red tinge dusted her cheeks. It hadn't occurred to her just now, but throughout the process Lavender had been more than compliant and her eyes had dulled for some reason as if she weren't really there. Now the colour had returned and the contrast was almost scary. What had happened just now?

Mikyla must have stopped chanting near the end of the contracting process because within seconds of the life returning to Lavender, everyone else stopped chanting with the Drows snapping out of a trance soon after. Although the contracting was over and everything seemed to return back to normal, something seemed off. The aura of hostility had all but disappeared and if Mikyla weren't in the school courtyard she would have sworn she were in the midst of a graveyard.

The eerie atmosphere dispelled as soon as the gong sounded once more. With a few barked orders from the principal, the usual chaos of students rushing back to lessons was clearly evident but as Mikyla was shoved towards a growing Noble crowd, her suspicions couldn't be fully let go. Something was definitely off. It was like the moment before biting into an apple that would eventually prove itself to be nothing more than polystyrene.

"You didn't complete the contract, did you?" A sudden figure brushes past Mikyla, her voice barely louder than a whisper."

A bead of sweat breaks out on Mikyla's forehead. She must be hearing things. Nobody could have inspected her so closely that they would have realised she stopped chanting. There were hundreds of them in the courtyard. It would have been impossible to know if anyone didn't complete the contract.

"What?" Mikyla whispers back, the tremor in her voice like a sharpened blade.

When no answer came, Mikyla whipped her head around but the figure was gone, a ghost in the wind. Shaking her head, Mikyla stood still in the flowing crowd. There definitely was someone, someone who knew she didn't complete the contract.

Mikyla bit her lip and clenched her fist but only to find resistance in the form of a paper cut. Opening her hand in reflex she was surprised to find a card placed within. A contact card to be exact.

A sudden hand on Mikyla's shoulder causes her to almost jump out of her skin as she thrusts the card into a pocket and hides the seeping wound on her hand.

"Woah, woah!" A familiar voice speaks up from behind her. "Calm down Mika."

Settling her breathing, Mikyla turns slowly to face Sam. Was he the one who knew Mikyla failed to complete the contract? No, the figure was definitely female - Mikyla had been one long enough to recognise the body figure anywhere. Most likely a Drow female too.

"You look like you've seen a ghost- I mean, after forming the contracts, the Dregs almost look like ghosts anywa-"

"You noticed too?"

"Well, yeah. Natasha couldn't stop glaring at me during the whole process but most of the other Dregs looked almost completely wiped out. It was if they were totally fazed out as soon as the mark started glowing but I suppose they perked up afterwards."

"You think."

"I guess? I suppose they were a bit more compliant after forming the contracts but nothing's really changed... Why? Is something wrong?"

"No." Mikyla shakes her head voiding eye contact. If Sam was anything like Sade then he'd be able to tell that something was up. The thing was, Sam may be like Sade in some ways but when it came down to it, he was still just a Noble. An enemy.

"Alright then." Sam shrugs. "It's kind of anticlimactic but we've got to get back to class now."

"Oh, right. Of course." It didn't surprise her. Getting marked an becoming a slave was the largest turning point in a Drows life but naturally the Nobles didn't care. Just stay on schedule, after all, the Drows were only tools that could be replaced. No need to deviate off plan just because of a life altering moment or anything.

"Geometry." Sam tuts as he and Mikyla follow a now neat line into the school. "Wait, you like geometry, don't you?"

Mikyla blinks thinking if this was a trick question. She does like geometry, the ordered shapes all perfectly fitting together. Lattices and fibonacci spirals were something that really interested her - something devoid of bias - something uncontrolled - something pure. It was just a shame that as a Drow, Mikyla never had any working equipment and a textbook between three was a general occurrence.

"No, wait, don't answer that. Obviously you do. All that math stuff is right up your alley."

"Really?" Mikyla half answers. As much as she'd love to explore the abundance of mathematical equipment bestowed to the Nobles, her heart just wasn't in it. "I guess if you put it that way, I sort of sound like a-"

"Nerd?"

Mikyla rolls her eyes but a blaring alarm cuts of a retort. Instead her eyes widen in fear and she clutches the card in her pocket. They didn't know, did they?

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Word Count for Chapter 14: 1816
Total Word Count: 21084

Authors Note:

Hope you liked the UNEDITED chapter 14! Don't forget to press on those magical stars to light up Mikyla's future path and leave a comment telling me what you like so far or what you don't like. Thanks for reading so far.

Happy reading
~ Dracollavenore