Entering inside, she was not sure what to expect.

Perhaps not a welcoming committee or anything of that sort, but certainly someone. Instead, all Vyra saw was nothingness; the remains of a bar having long since abandoned, dust having more than accumulated atop everything, and an eerie, almost haunting silence surrounding her. A silence broken up only by that of her calling out, careful to not be too loud as to draw attention from the outside, in fear of a Rune Knight happening upon them at any given moment.

Some short time later, quite when being unclear, there was a sound, one whose suddenness was enough to take the Demi-Human by surprise. As she turned, she noticed what could have only been a few people, some of them adorned in black robes, one of them, a young woman with black and white hair, looked upon her. She smiled, eyes shut for a moment only to eventually reveal curious black and red pupils. Vyra found herself unsure of how to respond, unsure of who these people were, but in an effort to maintain appearances, she smiled as well.

“Vyra?”

Her heart sank for a moment, a fear of this being a trap settling quickly within her head. She wanted to run, to turn around and abandon this, but she stopped herself, or rather her body did. Her legs did not move, as she simply stood there, completely at the mercy of these people. She could have lied. Perhaps she should have. But in the end, she nodded her head weakly, looking directly to the woman.

“Yes, that’s me.”

A smile immediately formed upon the woman’s face again, this one not a friendly one, but rather instead that of a cynical, evil perspective. “Wonderful,” she said with surprising enthusiasm. “I was worried that that fool was all talk and nothing more. Good to see that we can go ahead with the sale now,” the woman paused, her words having become much darker, whatever ruse she may have been carrying before to Vyra quickly being dispelled, “Once she’s dealt with of course.”

The flight response in her awoke, but just a moment too late. As Vyra turned her head towards the door from which she entered from, intent on running, she felt the massive arm grabbing her, as much leveraging an unexpected amount of strength and force upon her as much holding her place while she felt something else; a sharp sting entering into her neck. A pain radiated throughout for a moment, then suddenly came with it a calming effect. It spread throughout her body, her strength waning with each second as whatever happened began to completely overtake her. Her eyes felt heavy, her legs having failed her already, and as she struggled to maintain any composure over the next waning seconds, she found herself supported not by her own capabilities but instead entirely by that of the unseen figure whom had first pinned her in place.

Then, everything went black.

Some time passed. How long she could not say. What transpired since, she could not say either. Little could Vyra recall in the immediate aftermath of what had happened, quite what had happened, or why even. Everything was a blur.

Much like her senses around her, everything feeling dulled, her body feeling slow, the slogginess of whatever was afflicting her presently traversing throughout her body. It took some time, but eventually her sense of awareness became acute enough to realize just where she was, still within the same abandoned bar that she had entered earlier, but things felt different. The dust that had built up was gone, everything seeming to appear pristine. At least of what could be seen.

Before her there now appeared a large red drape wrapped along the entirety of the room, effectively hiding Vyra from whatever what may have been behind it. She could hear the sound of voices, some sounding muffled, but of what she was at least able to tell, there were certainly people there.

Friends? Unlikely. Enemies? Certainly something she would not have put past.

The uncertainty made her worried. As she looked around, that worry turned to absolute terror.

On either side of her stood women much in the same situation as she seemed to have been; unable to move, unable to do anything other than look forward, all seeming to be within a drunken stupor, not unlike that of what Vyra was under only moments earlier. But to the confusion of the Demi-Human, she noticed that all of them appeared to have been nude, which left her wondering.

Looking down, her suspicions were confirmed as she too were fully in the nude, her long red hair being the closest thing now to any sort of covering that she may have wished to have provided. She sought to cover herself, trying to do anything, but found her body unable to move, the fact that she possessed any level of consciousness being as much a great gift to her as well as a horrible curse.

She struggled for several moment moments before a new noise entered her ears, the sound of the curtain spreading open before her. Before her now were multiple people, many adorned within hooded robes, a woman dressed in elegant red robes, and some others including the woman whom Vyra had met prior to all of this.

“Ladies and gentlemen! The auction shall now begin!”

Those words caused Vyra to feel absolutely deflated. As her senses slowly began to return to her, she appreciated the futility of everything now, what lack of hope she had in terms of being able to get out of this. She was entirely at the mercy of this group whom had begun to shout about numbers from one girl to another, treating them no different than that of items being sold off of a shelf.

One by one. The girls beside her were sold off, their reasonings unknown, nothing clear about any of it save for the fact that they all remained within their drunken stupor-like effect, a luxury that Vyra had long since lost.

Then finally it became her turn, her eyes hurting under the intense spotlight that now were cast upon her.

“For the main course of tonight, the former Blue Pegasus mage. An exotic thing, certainly something that you all could get behind. The bidding shall begin at one million.”

In no time, Vyra listened and watched on as hands upon hands were raised, numbers called out to add to an increasingly large pot. A pot that was being exchanged for her existence, her freedom. It started out at one million, then quickly rose to two million, then three million, with each growing amount translating to fewer people putting their names forward, eventually it was reaching near ten million jewels with only two individuals interested still; one of the figures shrouded, and the elegant woman in red.

Another bid, this time for eleven million by the figure shrouded. A few gasps escaped the crowd, stunned at the investment.

“Fifteen million,” came the woman in red, her tone cold, calculated, hardly impressed by the man’s display but fully ready to bask in her own.

A silence persisted over the crowd for some time, eventually nothing being said, yet the sound of a small gavel hitting upon the wooden podium breaking the silence, that exact moment being when Vyra wished to have been able to cry, still struggling under the effects of the apparent sedative effect. All she could was feel her body being dragged away, having no agency of her own, know idea where she would have stood to ended up next.

1278/1200 (-40% |-20% Oración Seis Guild Level 2 Perk, -20% Explorer's Belt)