Liesandra After the War
WARNING! This story contains contains domestic abuse, alcoholism, slavery, and sexual themes. If this triggers you in any way, please don’t read.
Liesandra scoured the abandoned farm's fields. There were hardly any crops left, weeds taking over the soil and their thorns poking into her hardened bare feet. It had been too long since she last ate, so long that she had forgotten what food tasted like. It didn't matter if it was maggot ridden old portage or bread that was more mold than grain. She was starving, and the others wouldn't share their food, and so, the small girl scavenged.
With the sun's hot rays on her back, and the scent of bloody decay all around, she found some corn lying on the ground besides it's stock.
In a swift motion, the head of corn was in the calloused and dirty hands of the girl. Looking around, she tried to find more to no such luck.
With the rumble of her stomach, the small child took off, hopping over the corpses of her former comrades to get to her master's new home. Her footsteps echoed on the empty streets as Liesandra scurried past the looming buildings until she got to the mostly intact mansion and made her way for the servants entrance.
When she reached the kitchen she began to soak the corn in water and start a fire. When the flames were ready, she placed the movable grill over it and place the corn upon it. After some time, the corn was ready.
After letting it cool for not nearly enough time, the girl tore off the husk and sunk her teeth into the golden grain. Juice dribbled down her scarred cheeks and dripped off her chin. It was delicious.
With her belly full, the young Liesandra sat back to catch her breath. Only now did she realize that she had burnt her tongue and mouth by eating before the food had cooled down.
After a while, there was a tug on the tip of her pointed ears as the hoop earring was being pulled. Her master was summoning her to his chambers. She quickly got up from the dirty floors and dusted off her ragged dress before running out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room. The longer she took the harder her ears were tugged, to the point where she thought her ears would bleed and the rings bould be tugged out of her skin.
When she arrived at the door, she gave it a gentle knock. “Here I am, Master.”
“Get your puny self in here!” A gruff voice slurred at an unbearably loud volume.
With the creak of the large door, the small girl entered the room. It was dark; ragged curtains covering the open windows and balcony. The scent of booze and herb over ran the girl’s senses as the sunburnt and ash laiden carpet crunched beneath her feet.
Liesandra looked at the bed that was covered in a mess of silken blankets and pillows carelessly thrown about. Upon it was a manor sixteen with messy blonde hair, striking red eyes, and robes lazily wrapped around his large and muscular frame. The empty bottle of liquor looking like a toy in his hand.
“What took you so long, Lielie?” He spat. The man was drunk. That much was clear from his flushed cheeks and ears. “And where’s my drink?”
“I-I was in the kitchen cleaning, a-and we’re all out.” She answered. He didn’t need to know of her meal, and was planning on cleaning up after herself so it wan’t a total lie.
“All out?” He growled, “What do you mean that we’re ‘all out’?”
She shrunk in her place by the door. “T-the last bottle is in your hand,” herr voice quivered no matter how hard she tried to stop it.
The master let out a tisk, “ I bet that you drank it all, didn’t you? I’m sure you did, filthy mud blood,” the blonde spat at the end.
Liesandra spoke up, “I didn’t-“
CRACK!
The next thing she knew, Liesandra was knocked to the floor, blood started to drip from her head and down her face, landing in her lap. The darkly stained glass from the former bottle of wine lay broken all around her.
The master of the house dropped his hand after throwing his fragile ammunition.
Lifting his hand, he moved it in a way that the rings on his pinky and thumb could be on display. He got off the bed and walked over to the edge of the glass mess. The blonde pulled his ringed hand up, forcing the earrings on the girl to pull her up. He grabbed a fist-full of the girl’s hair and lifted her over a foot in the hair so she was forced into eye contact with his crimson eyes.
“Did I tell you that you could speak?” He asked through drifted teeth; his hot and fruity breath hitting her in the face.
Throwing her hands over his in pain, she tried to heave her head. “No, sir,” she answered in a horse whisper.
After a short silence, he threw her down into the broken glass.
“Clean this up, then get me some more,” The red eyed brute muttered, going back to his bed to lie down.
The girl pushed herself up with a groan and began to remove the large pieces of glass from her flesh. After that she picked up the glass and cleaned up the mess. She carried the broken pieces out in her dress, receiving a “And make sure it’s strong,” from the man on the bed.
When she reached the kitchen, Liesandra threw out the garbage and began to clean herself. Her wounds didn’t feel deep, but you can never know for sure. She got a bucket of hot water, a sponge, and some soap that she had made the week prior. She planned on tearing apart some old rags that were too worn to use as anything but a bandage.
She pealed off her dress and began to wash the cuts. She winced when the warm water leaked out of the sponge and over her cuts. Taking the bar of soap, the child rubbed it with wet hands until she got enough suds so she could clean her wounds. Once that was finished, Liesandra took the sponge and rinsed out her sudsy cuts and gashes, the more she did so, the more and more blue the water got with her blood.
It was still something that she had not gotten over. Only up until eight months ago her blood was red. Red as anyone else’s. She didn’t understand at the time why the others had bothered to keep her alive. But now, she knew why, they needed a slave. They weren't used to manual labor and couldn't handle their anger nonviolently, to be bluntly. This however, did not change Lielie’s treatment. They even made sure that her blood would be the color of mud.
With her wounds ready for bandaging, the strips of cloth tore several times as it was tightly wound around her thin frame. Liesandra pulled her dress back on and dumped the bloody water onto some of the blood sucking bushes.
Liesandra began to slowly walk away from the mansion, limping and wincing with every step. She knew that it wouldn’t be long until she was fully healed, but that didn’t stop the desire to have the pain removed. Not to mention,the cuts and gashes on her sides would take at least a day to heal.
The other survivors would be back soon. She had to find some alcohol and get back to the manor to make them supper in just half an hour. That wasn’t nearly enough time. Her master had already raided the area and left it dry.
Luckily, she knew a spot. She went to an old boutique and ran to the back, past the workstations and mutilated bodies of the seamstresses. She pushed a bookshelf aside and revealed a shriveled up pannel. Reaching into her apron pocket and pulling out a screwdriver. She didn’t know what kind it was, just that it was in the shape of a cross on the pointed end.
She unscrewed the pannel and set it aside before crawling into the dark room. Hitting a switch, a single dim light turned on, revealing a small and cramped space filled with bottles of liquor and valuable fabric. This is where the business would store the spare fabrics and acted as a makeshift safe. Not to mention, great staff were alcoholics. Good people, but addicted to their drink.
Not that Liesandra minded. They did hide her in the safe when bombs were being thrown. It made her realize that there are people who don’t care about your class, weather you are a princess or a slave.
She grabbed a few bottles and sealed up the safe. The slave girl ran back to the mansion and set the bottles down down on a table with as clank. She then pulled out ingredients for her master and his friends’ dinner. With what she had on hand, it would be best to make some bread and soup.
Liesandra pulled out a giant pot and filled it with water. She set a fire and placed the pot upon it. She then walked back out to the garden to grab some of the tomatoes and herbs. She washed them off and began to cut up the fruit. She threw the produce in the pot when the water started to bubble.
While that was cooking, the slave girl began to make some bread. She threw some flour, salt, yeast, and baking powder into a bowl before stirring them all up. She them mixed up some eggs, butter, and milk from the cooler until she got dough. The small girl got a crate to stand on and climbed on it and cleaned the counter before sprinkling some flour on the surface and began to kneed the dough for a good ten minutes. When that was done, she placed the dough back inside the bowl and covered it with a cloth.
Liesandra placed the bowl outside in the sun to rise and went to check on the soup. She took a spoon and stirred, getting the present aroma of tomato soup. She threw in some spices and let it simmer. For half an hour the girl cleaned up ad got the oven ready while waiting for the dough to rise.
When that was all ready, she placed the ball of dough inside the brick oven to bake.
She then began to get the trolly ready with bowls, glasses, cutlery, and drink. She then placed the pot of soup on it with a ladle. The bread was pulled out and placed upon a wooden cutting board, then put on the cart. A serrated bread knife was wrapped up in a cloth and placed beside the loaf. Some cloth napkins were it down under the cutlery.
And just as Liesandra finished, she was called again to the master’s chambers. She quickly pushed the large cart up the steep slope to the second floor and knocked on the door.
This time a large woman of over 6 feet opened the door. She had dark black hair and soft green eyes. Her skin was pale and seemed to glow in the retreating light of the sun as it was setting, making the gold chain in her hair sparkle. He dress was made oof the finest silks and dyed to a deep lavender.
Behind her on the bed with the master of the house was another man with a husky build who stood a little above seven feet. His robes were made from fine lining in whites and browns. His hair, curly and a messy brown and his face covered in a beard. His eyes were turned toward the blonde, their blue giving his red all of his attention in their conversation.
The girl scoffed, “It’s about time!” And left to her seat back on the bed in between the two men.
Liesandra gave her a nod and rolled the cart in beside the bed and went to light the candles all around the room. As she did so, the other three began to dig in. She watched out of the corner of her eye. They had to like it. It had to be good if it wasn’t good, she’d get punished again. And Liesandra couldn’t afford to get punished again today.
The woman turned to the slave and said “Thanks for not messing this one up, Lielie,” before taking another bite.
“Well said, your highness.” The brunette spoke up with a nod.
The royal smiled and puffed up her chest. “But of course! A princess must always look after her people, no mater how small and worthless, dear Father.”
Wrapping his arm around her waist, the blonde leaned in and kissed the side of her head. “How generous of you, your majesty.”
The master’s lips moved to the princess’ as the noirette slid her hand to the thigh of the father, the brunette kissed her neck and looked at Liesandra.
The young girl quickly left the room and closed the door. She didn’t need to be in the same room as them when that did that. And she certainly didn’t like how the priest was looking at her. It made her chin crawl, she felt like that whenever he looked at her. It was why Liesandra always made sure to never be in a room alone with him.
She went down to the kitchen and began to clean up the mess she made while making dinner. There was extra bits of vegetables, a cracked pot and a couple of bowls. She could have dinner. And because there were guests over, she couldn’t eat here.
Liesandra picked up everything that she needed and ran out into the night until she arrived at the abandoned farm. Her dirty, bare feet went up the path and into the farmhouse.
The door opened with a loud creak and sent dust and dirt into the air. Walking over to the wood pile, the slave grabbed a few pieces and set them down in the hearth. She lit a fire and went to grab the wooden bucket in the corner. The girl then left to draw some water from the well a three minute walk away.
When approaching the well, she saw it. A woman with very long white and wavy hair and skin as pale as the dead. Her figure was thin but not unhealthy. She wore a knee length white dress with puffed sleeves, and a pair of nice leather boots and some white gloves. Around her neck a fine steel chain and a small locket on it. Her eyes looked to be made of silver as they turned to look at Liesandra. She looked to be eighteen but didn’t have the height for it, only being around five seven. And upon closer inspection, her ears did not have pointed tips, they were round as a baby’s.
“Oh, hello. I did not know that anyone is here.” The pale lady spoke, her voice high in pitch but soft in tone. “I am not intruding, am I?”
Liesandra shook her head. “No, I just came for some water.”
The woman nodded. “Ah yes, water. It is very wet and delicious. I like to eat it very often.”
The girl nodded. “Yeah… so could you please move? You’re blocking the well.”
“Oh! I am so sorry, I had forgotten where I was for a moment.” The pale woman hopped off the well’s edge and watched as the girl worked with giant equipment. “Everything is so big here, it is kind of incredible.”
“Mhm.” Liesandra acknowledged what the woman had said whitest puking up a now full pail of water.
She then began her walk back to the cabin with the strange lady following beside her. “Say, are we in the land of the giants?”
The girl looked to the pale woman in confusion as she opened the old farm house’s door. “You aren’t from around here, are you?” She asked as they entered.
“What makes you say that?” The woman asked while taking a seat by the fire.
Liesandra paused while pouring the water into the cracked to and stared at her. “Are you serious? You don’t look Blablurian, and I doubt that you’re a survivor, you’re too clean.”
“Survivor? Is that where we are at now?” The woman asked to herself, earning a puzzled look from the girl as the scraps were thrown into the pot.
Shaking her head, Liesandra turned her attention back to the pot. When it began to heat up, she pulled the screwdriver out of her pocket and used it to stir the pot.
As the food was finishing up, Lielie grabbed one of the bowls and filled it with the stew. And when she did so, the woman asked. “Can I have some?”
The girl looked at the woman, then the pot, and then to her own bowl. She had planned on having seconds, she didn’t know when the next time she could wat was; but she also couldn’t bring herself to let another person starve. That was a pain that she knew all too well.
Liesandra gave her bowl to the woman and grabbed the other one and filled it with what was left of the stew. She sat down to eat and set the screwdriver down on the floor.
After a few minutes of eating in silence, the lady grabbed the screwdriver and looked it over. “A Phillips, good choice,” she said and set it down.
“Phillips?” The slave asked with food still in her mouth.
“Do not speak with your mouth full, it is rude.” The woman nagged. “It is the same of that type of screwdriver.” She set down her empty bowl and stretched. “Well that was good, Phillips. Thank you for the meal.
“I-what? Who are you calling Phillips?” Lielie piped up.
“Why you of corse! You have been carrying around a screwdriver in your pocket. Cookie?” The lady stuck a hand in her hair and pulled out a cookie and placed it in the girl’s hands.
“Ah-thank you.” She began to eat the cookie and chewed slowly. It tasted like a painterly but there was something else. She looked down at the cookie in her hand and saw that there were brown chunks inside it, Lielie’s eyes widened. That was chocolate. Why did this lady give her some? This was strictly for those that were a much higher statis than a slave.
“It is good, right? Tell you what, I like your cooking. If you work for me, you can eat good food and have a warm bed every night.” The pale woman piped up.
It wasn’t that bad of a deal for Liesandra, but there as only one problem.
“I would love to, but I can’t.” The girl shook her head.
The woman frowned, “And why is that, Phillips?”
Liesandra motioned to the rings on her ears. “I’m a slave. I have a master, it’s not my decision to make. And don’t call me Phillips.”
“Then what if I become your master? I will never harm you, and give you a safe place to stay. You will even receive pay. And I will make sure that you will never go hungry again.” The stranger offered. “You would just have to give me your owner’s rings. What do you say?”
Liesandra stared at her and thought. After a few minutes she spoke. “Do you promise? Will you make an oath?”
The woman smiled, “I swear on the name of the Goddess of Time, Snowflake, that if I become your master, that I will never cause you any harm.”
The slave stared at her in shock. “I want you to be my master.”
The woman smiled. “Good! Now Phillips, I need you to get me those ownership rings.”
“Why can’t you get them? They’re going on your fingers.” Lielie asked. “And it’s Liesandra.”
“Because if I get them, it will be considered stealing and then I can not ever be your master.” The lady answered.
Lielie nodded and took a deep breath. This was going to be hard. Her current master was so big and strong, and she was so weak and small; not to mention that she was only a kid! She was just twelve! Still, it had to be done. To live a better life.
The child stood and walked to the door. She turned to the woman and said, “I will be right back,” and left to her master’s manor, taking the screwdriver and putting it back in her pocket.
She snuck in quietly and began to slowly walk up the stone steps and to the master suite. She put her ear to the door to listen and see if the other three were awake. It was quiet with the occasional snore and sigh. Perfect.
Liesandra cracked the door open and took a peek, and it looked like and easy mission. The blonde was on the far side of the bed with the princess in the middle and with the priest closest to the door.
She crept in and quietly made her way around to the other side of the bed, being sure to keep to the shadows. She reached over to grab the blonde’s right hand and began to slowly slide the rings off of his fingers. Thank the Gods that all three of these people reared of booze, sending them into a deep sleep.
The one on his thumb slid off with a twist, the problem was the pinky’s, he had a closed fist. Liesandra began to carefully unwind his hand just enough to slide the second ring off.
The priest made a loud snort in his sleep that made the slave girl jump. She stared at him as she finished with the second ring. Liesandra slowly pulled away from the triad and crept out of the room and down the stairs.
She got down the stairs when she heard her master say, “What? That bitch!”
The girl took off and ran for her life, holding the rings close to her chest as the sound of the blonde man quickly untangling himself from his sheets, waking the other two up in the process. She clamored out of the main door and down the moon lit road as her master jumped off the balcony and took off after her.
He soon caught up and tackled her to the ground. “What in Snowflake’s name do you think you’re doing you filthy little slut?” He growled and slapped her face before wailing on her.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the screwdriver and plunged it into his side, earning a hotel from him. It bought her enough time to scurry away from the giant man as the other two approached.
Liesandra booked it for the farm house, loosing the others on the way.
By the time she arrived at the location, he rungs were on fire and her legs felt like gelatin. The woman stepped out of the cabin to greet her.
“Oh there you are Phillips! I see that you have made it back in one piece.” She said and wiped away some of the blood from the girl’ face. The woman then noticed that Liesandra was holding a bloody screwdriver.
The girl looked down at the bloody tool. “They followed and got what was coming to ‘em.”
“Ah, living up to your name, eh Phillips.” The woman put the slave maser rings on and stood, putting a key inside of the keyhole of the cabin door.
Lielie stood and watched the woman in anger. “For the last time, my name is Liesandra! Why can’t you get that? I shouldn’t have to be called that, especially when you haven’t given me your name?
The woman laughed and opened the door, on the other side was a completely different place than the farm house. “I guess that I forgot to say it. You may call me Snowflake. Come along now, we have much to do, Phillips.”
The girl’s eyes widened as they followed Snowflake through the door. If God says your name is Phillips, your name is Phillips.
0 notes
a lot of people have said it, but I’m throwing in my two cents just to get it off my chest.
Picard season 3 was . Bad . For a LOT of reasons . It felt like - as many before me have expressed - a self-insert fanfic with the dullest self-insert in history.
Jack Crusher wasn’t much of a character but he could have had some promise if they hadn’t spent an aggravating amount of time having him decree how different he always felt, you guys. Did you get that part? He’d always felt different. That sort of dialogue might have flown if we were dealing with Picard’s adolescent son, but instead we’re dealing with a 24 year old played by a 35 year old who looks every bit his age. (It was a hard 24 years, we must assume.)
The reason that Jack Crusher didn’t work for me personally, though, wasn’t because of how cliché his character was. I would have let that pass much easier if it wasn’t for the big ol’ elephant in the room. And that is simply that :
JACK CRUSHER WAS NEVER NECESSARY
Jack may have served a purpose to the storyline that was presented if only because he was the sole reason there was a Big Bad to be defeated in the first place. Everyone wanted to kidnap him, he brought the old gang back together just to protect him and then later save him from said Big Bad which was also actually .. him. Everything Was About Jack. But I’m not talking about the main plot. I Really Don’t Want to Talk About the Main Plot. Ever. What I want to talk about is what Jack represented that made him so unnecessary:
He was intended to represent Jean-Luc Picard’s only reason to start living.
Personally, that really, really offended me. Picard didn’t need to have a biological kid to have a purpose. In fact, it’s been established time and time again that he wasn’t ever really dad material. More of a... weirdly intense uncle. For a while, he wasn’t a fan of kids at all. Eventually, though, Picard is seen to warm to the idea of letting children within his general vicinity. This starts in TNG and continues on in season 1 of Picard. The Only Categorically Good Season of this whole. show.
In season 1, we see flashbacks of Jean-Luc’s relationship with a young Elnor, how he would read him stories and have sword fights with him. He was an absent father to an adopted child he hadn’t even realised he’d adopted and yet Elnor still fought for his hopeless cause. In much the same way, Picard meets Dahj and then later, Soji. He feels a kinship with these androids because of their connection to Data. He wants to protect Soji becase he couldn’t protect Dahj and Soji even canonically questions whether she should allow Picard to act as her father figure before she begins to remember where she came from. Both of these dynamics were infinitely more interesting and a lot deeper rooted. Soji and Elnor were both young twenty-somethings without parental guidance but found that guidance through Picard. Soji had her connection to Jurati, too, and Elnor had his with Seven and Raffi and that’s what made the whole group so intriguing to follow. They all had interesting connections to each other that had so many avenues to explore.
Unfortunately, the show decided to more or less write Soji and Elnor out of the story come season 2. Elnor was killed off for the majority of the season and only brought back by Q intervention in the last episode. Soji wasn’t even a part of the story at all. And do you know what’s sad about that? What’s really sad? Season 2 was trying to sell us the exact same message as season 3. That Picard needed a reason to live. But, like, not that reason. Not the reasons he’d already been given in the form of his found family with his Romulan and android adopted children, or even the rest of the La Sirena crew. No no no, we can’t have that, better get rid of them. This time, Laris is the focal point. Picard had been avoiding a romantic relationship with her because of a never before mentioned dark history surrounding his mother’s suicide. Because, sure, at this point, why not? While we’re at it, let’s also kill off Rios in the most slap-in-the-face out of character way possible and fling Jurati at the Borg for good measure just so she won’t be around for season 3. Her character development into the Borg Queen was pretty intriguing, but we’ll totally ignore that they even exist post her departure, just for funsies. Oh, and Soji and Elnor? Best not mention them at all come that third and final season. Otherwise, people might get the crazy notion that Picard already had a reason not to hunker down and die at the vinyard at the tender age of 104.
Season 3 picks up where season 2 leaves off in that Picard is now in that aforementioned romantic relationship with Laris. Except, no he isn’t because he immediately gets an emergency call from his ex and literally never sees or talks to Laris ever again. There wasn’t even a throw-away line or implied reference to her, but by now I’m sure you know the reason for that.
That’s right, folks. Because if we were allowed to remember Laris and what she meant to Picard, then we might just remember that other thing. Say it with me now!!
JACK CRUSHER WAS NEVER NECESSARY!!
In summary, there were so many brilliant options to give Picard for signficant found family dynamics, but the show just wasn’t interested in any of them. Season 3 wanted a Picard who had given it all up, who was ready to die because he’d never had a family to pass on his legacy. They wanted him at his lowest so that we’d all rejoice to see him return to the TNG crew. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive TNG fan and I could rave about the fan service and nostalgia porn for hours on end. If season 3 had stood alone as a singular unconnected event, it might even have been passable as a warm hug from old and beloved characters with some fun new spins to their stories along the way, juust so long as you didn’t squint too hard at the actual attempt at plot writing going on in the background.
But the fact of the matter is, Picard season 3 came far too late into the game. Season 1 held the building blocks to something new and interesting. By the end of season 2, it was becoming clear we were never going to see those blocks stand. By season 3, those blocks were just scattered headstones in a graveyard.
They teased us with the potential new show of Captain Seven and her Number One Raffi Musiker and that might have just been okay. . .
. . .If the La Sirena Crew had been allowed to be a part of that future.
In closing: Picard season 3? Too little, too late, mate. 👎🏻
328 notes
·
View notes