I've rarely walked outside the manor. There's little reason to, given how large the manor is. And standing outside looking at it, that is only more evident. It's as unnecessarily tall and ornate on the outside as its owner is. It's made of white stone, and is covered in carvings, arches, balconies, towers, and windows. It looks like something out of a fantasy movie. Or maybe a dream of some kind.
I am far more interested, however, in the world around it. The 'moon', so to speak. It's... not quite what I expected. I suppose that's a given, at this point, that nothing is what I expect. But the world is not simply a barren rock. It's not just a grey, lifeless planetoid with a manor on it. It's... a world. An ecosystem.
There are trees, and grass, and plants. There are animals, too, though I haven't seen many of them. Just some birds, and some small, furry things that run around the bushes. And there appear to be mountains, and at least one lake and river. But they're smaller scale than I'm used to seeing. Everything is...
Tame. Or at least, very much under control. Like it's all been carefully curated and maintained. The trees are spaced out just so, the grass is trimmed and perfect, the flowers are planted in neat rows. Even the mountains seem to be... shaped. Carved. Sculpted.
I don't know how else to describe it.
It's like... a garden. A big, sprawling garden, with a mansion in the middle. And I guess, in a way, that's exactly what it is.
"Hey." Llywelyn's voice breaks me out of my thoughts, and I turn to look at him. He's standing a few feet away from me, his arms crossed, his expression bored. "Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to follow me? I have cur'oih to do."
I roll my eyes, and walk over to him. "What's the rush? I thought you didn't like to work."
"I don't." He sniffs. "But I have to. And I'd rather get it over with quickly. The sooner I'm done, the sooner I can bathe."
"Of course." I sigh. "Everything leads back to bathing with you." I look around, and notice he's carrying a basket. "What's that?"
He glances at the basket, and then at me. "It's for the fish."
"The...fish?" I repeat, confused. "What fish?"
"The fish in the pond." He says, as if it's obvious. "The ones I feed. Every day. It's part of my duties."
I blink. "You... have multiple feeding duties?"
"Yes." He says, annoyed. "Do not judge me. I did not choose this."
I shake my head. "So you let him make the choice...?"
"More or less." He shrugs. "I've been here for a while, so he knows my...preferences. And he indulges me. Mostly."
"By assigning you to feed animals?"
He gives me a withering look. "Yes. It's quiet. It's easy and quick, and not all at once." He turns, and starts walking. "Come on. The pond is this way."
I follow him, and we walk through the garden. The grass is soft under my feet, and the air is fresh and clean. It's nice, in a weird way. I don't think I've ever been in a place like this before. Not even on Earth.
We reach the pond after a few minutes. It's not very big, maybe the size of a backyard pool. But it's deep, and the water is clear. I can see the bottom, and the plants that grow there. And I can see the fish. They're... not like any fish I've seen before. They're bigger, and they have... tentacles. And teeth. Lots of teeth.
"Whoa." I say, crouching down to get a better look. "Those are some scary looking fish."
"They're not strictly fish." Llywelyn says, setting the basket down. "They're gillworgs. And they're not scary. They're actually quite docile. They don't attack anything bigger than them, and they don't get bigger than this. Unless they're in the ocean, but these are freshwater."
I raise a brow at him. "They look like fish. With teeth and tentacles." I watch as he opens the basket, and takes out a handful of... something. It looks like meat, but I can't be sure. He tosses it into the pond, and the gillworgs swarm to it, devouring it eagerly. "What are you feeding them?"
"Meat. What else would I feed them? They're carnivores." He says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Where do you get the meat?" I ask, curious. "Do you have animals here?"
"No. Not like livestock, if that's what you're asking for. That fis'ia bird is the closet thing we have. There's no room. Master just buys and imports it." He tosses another handful of meat into the pond, and the gillworgs go wild.
I settle down on a nearby log that must have been dragged over - or intentionally built - for observation of the fish. The tentacle-teeth fish. "Pretty quick duty."
"Gives me plenty of time between duties." He says, sitting down beside me. "And it's pleasant. I like watching them. They're beautiful. And they have amusing personalities."
"Amusing personalities." I squint at him and glance at the water. "Seems to just be greed to me." The fish aren't doing anything but shoving each other out of the way to get at the meat.
"That's part of it." He agrees. "But they also do other things. Sometimes they play games. They chase each other. They have little fights. They're very expressive. If you watch them long enough, you'll see."
I shrug. "I guess."
We sit in silence for a while, watching the fish. They're actually kind of fascinating, once you get past the teeth and tentacles. They have bright colors, and patterns, and they move in weird ways. They're not like normal fish at all. And... maybe they do have personalities. I think I can see some of them being more aggressive, and others being more shy. And some of them seem to be friends, or rivals. It's... weird, but interesting.
"Are there any other Akutwas left?" It just. Slips out. Because of that unfinished line I read about him being a singular Akutwasian.
He startles and recoils from me slightly, giving me a deeply confused, possibly offended look, collar and chest flaring brightly for a pulse. "S'nalia wo'-? Are there any other humans left?" He shoots back at me.
I blink. "Uh. Yeah? Billions?"
"Why ask such a stupid question?"
"I-I don't know I just thought..." Well, it was. Mostly the thing I read. But even though there wasn't anything wrong with looking! I still don't want to say. Especially given he said something about those... security issues. "It'd make sense for you to be, since you ended up enslaved when you shouldn't be."
He pauses, and then visibly deflates. "Oh." His glow settles down. "No. There are many of my people left."
"Oh." Now I feel awkward.
"And I should not be." He sighs, and looks away. "I was... reckless. Stupid. I made a mistake, and I paid for it. That is all."
I don't know what to say to that. I don't know what kind of mistake he made, or how he ended up here. I'm sure that he doesn't want to talk about it, given his... defensiveness and dismissiveness. And. Well it's not like I need to be an expert on alien psychology to guess that anyway.
But I still...
"You didn't deserve it." I say, softly.
He glances at me, his expression surprised. "What?"
"Whatever your mistake was. This. Isn't a reasonable consequence." I gesture around us, at the manor, the garden, the planet. "This isn't a fair punishment."
He stares at me for a moment, and then laughs. It's a bitter, humorless laugh. "You think so?"
"I know so." I say, firmly. "No one deserves this. To be owned. To be treated like a thing. It's wrong."
He shakes his head, and looks back at the fish. "You know nothing of me, human. Killers can be sold into slavery as punishment, you know." He says, low. "Murderers and rapists, especially. Those that deserve humiliation. I'm not a good person."
I frown. "Are you a murderer? A rapist?"
He's silent for a long moment, and then he sighs. "No."
"Th-then why the hell-!" I shove him. "You're not a bad person, you're just a dumbass!"
He gives me an indignant look, his veins pulsing. "You can't say that! You don't know me!" But it lacks heat. It sounds... almost desperate.
"I know you're a dumbass." I fold my arms. "And a lazy, whiny, selfish fish-man. But that doesn't mean you should be enslaved."
He opens his mouth to retort, and then closes it. He looks away, and his collar and chest pulse again. "Well. You're an angry, violent, ugly human."
"Yeah. And I...?"
"I'm still deciding on that."
I shove him right off the log. "Asshole."
He yelps, and tumbles into the grass, narrowly missing the pond. "Fis'ia! That was uncalled for!" He shouts, sitting up. His hair is a mess, and there's dirt on his face, and his veins are pulsing erratically.
"It was very called for!"
"You! Are! Violent!" He points at me, accusingly.
"And you think I should be a slave!"
"I didn't say that!" He stands up, and dusts himself off.
After a moment he lets out a breath. "If you must know, I despise the concept of buying and selling even subsapients." He points at me. "Don't hit me, it's just the-"
"I'm not going to!" I hiss, but he still seems to be flinching. He's really that concerned? That's... I mean, I know he thinks of me as violent, but still.
He relaxes, just a little. "My opinion means nothing to this universe." He turns his gaze back to the pond and tosses the last bits of meat into it. The gillworgs swarm, and he sits back down on the log, pointedly ignoring me.
I don't know what to say to that. I can't deny it. His opinion doesn't change anything. Not really. But... I think it's important. To know that he doesn't agree with it. That he thinks it's wrong.
It makes me feel... a little less alone.
We sit there for a while longer, watching the fish. They're calming, in a way. Soothing. I can see why Llywelyn likes this duty.
"So... what else do you do?" I ask, after a while.
He sighs, and runs his hands through his hair, smoothing it down. "Many things. Most of them boring. Lucky you, you get to haunt me all day and find out."
"Oh, lucky me." I mutter, but I can't help but smile. I'm actually looking forward to it.
It's better than sitting alone in my room, at least.