Most people enjoyed the new world they lived in and showed immensely how much they loved the servant elves whom they didn't have to pay to work for them. Other people despised having such slaves, but didn't say a word for fear of the wrath of the people. Instead, they refused to buy an elf to work for them, only stating that they would rather not have the young-looking creatures touch their precious keepsakes and hard-earned property. In truth, the elves were entirely slaves in the humans' eyes, called servants only so their hard labor sounded less harsh.

They'd been discovered living peacefully in the deepest part of the dank woods that lay just south of the castle town and were stumbled upon quite by accident some fifteen years before by a lost boy. Their youthfulness and cheeriness amazed the boy, but what captivated him the most was their unusual appearance. Creamy milk skin, smooth as a newborn's skin and as soft as silk, pointed ears with some being more noticeable than others. Rare and beautiful eyes, colored of different gems of bright emeralds, innocent violets, cheery amethysts, beautiful ocean sapphires, and some even a light silver glowing like the full moon. Strange hairstyles growing as long as their knees and ranging in a variety of colors decorated their heads. Elaborate and expensive looking clothing with rare jewelry giving a wealthy appearance graced each elf the boy saw. Most of them were childlike in their appearance and it was hard for the boy to tell age by their physical attributes alone. At his first glance it looked as if the entire population was made up mostly of children.

Fierce debates raged and frustration was rampant between the Elfin Elders as they decided what to do with the lost boy, who'd been quite surprised the elders didn't look a day over thirty years. Arguments arose about whether or not they should aid the boy in finding his way home, or send him on his way without direction. Finally, the woodland creatures agreed to escort the boy to the end of the woodlands. The children were thrilled as they ushered the boy from their woodsy home, leading the way. As soon as they reached the edge of the threes, however, they had vanished entirely from sight. The boy was wholly surprised, not expecting them to have left so abruptly, but pushed it away as being their nature and hurried home.

Upon arriving at his wealthy hometown he immediately ran straight home, ignoring the shouts of his neighbors as he passed them.

It was an olden place, the small city near the edge of the forest. The whole metropolis was surrounded by a high stone wall that had been built a few years before the elves had been discovered. Not far from the outside of the wall was a large pile of rubble that once belonged to the royal family that ruled over the city hundreds of years before. No one knew what had happened to the royal family or why they discontinued having a king to rule over the land. People knew the broken down castle had an important significance, but over the hundreds of years that the castle sat there people forgot that significance and only saw it as taking up land.

Inside the wall it was almost like looking at stairs. Shops and taverns were towards the front, short and easy to look over and as it went closer to the back of the wall houses and shops got taller until, at the very end, was the town hall, a large clock embedded to the front of the high-standing building. Standing before the town hall was a fountain where many of the children tossed coins in and made wishes.

The boy's parents were relieved to have him home, but after assuring he was okay they berated him for being gone so long. The boy, barely stopping to take a breath, told them what happened deep in the woods and they hurried him to the town hall in hopes of being rewarded at discovering such a feat. Along the way the boy stopped in front of the fountain and tossed a coin in, wishing that the elves that helped him would receive many good fortunes for being so kind to him.

The mayor of the wealthy town was indeed intrigued and a plan started brewing within his greedy mind. As soon as the boy had left he proposed to his people that the prosperity of the future of mankind was about to unfold before their very eyes. That night, all able men set out for the woods, torches burning like stars, hundreds of nets folded neatly, and lockable wagons pulled by the city's strongest horses. That night, the peace and tranquility the elves had sustained for generations had ended, and, thus, the first elfin slaves came to be.

The moment the humans were spotted in the forests, panic spread among them, they hadn't fought a battle in centuries! Elfin children were rallied deep into the forests, but not before many were taken. The parents screamed in anger and chased after them, with all the magic they could summon from the spirits. Trees suddenly came alive, birds and animals grew vicious. Vines sprouted from the grounds trapping many a men in the forests. But as the forests burned the spirits grew weaker. Bodies strewn all over the once tranquil and beautiful forest, most still alive. It seemed not a single tree was without a man struggling with the ever tightening branches to break free. Screams could be heard as the once peaceful animals of the forest furiously assaulted the humans, enraged they had dared harm children. As the numerous horse drawn wagons neared the forest edge however, it became clear to the elders they would not recover all their children in time. Ordering a retreat back into the forest, the elders swore an oath never to rest until there children were returned to them, whatever the cost. Even if it meant leaving the forests, and destroying the humans then so be it. The ancient spirits would once again guide them, and grant them strength as they did so many centuries ago.

The forest home was left in shambles. Many of the elves left behind were injured, but they didn't let their new handicap keep them from cursing the humans. This would be war until they rescued their children and showed the men they were not a force to be reckoned with.

When the elves were first brought into the town, only women were interested in buying the elves to help with around the house chores. It didn't take long, however, for the men to get engrossed with them. When that occurred, families went to the center of town where a stage had been set up in front of the fountain for the elves to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

A barkeeper was looking for an elf that day, one not too old so it had plenty of energy, not too attractive so people would only come to see it, but attractive enough to make customers come in.

The man was fairly large, particularly around the middle with a beer belly, a brown and grey fuzzy beard with a mop of the same colors on his head, almost obscuring his eyes. He had gentle blue eyes that made the man look trusting enough to talk to, and could always be recognized by the worn, moth-eaten black trench coat he wore. The men of the town knew him the best, but the women also recognized him and conversed when they weren't busy and happened to see him. Everyone knew he wasn't married, but he wasn't looking for a nice lady to settle down with either. He was carefree and claimed he had enough friends to have company enough with and hadn't a need for a wife with his work keeping him busy all the time. He arrived at the stage just as a long, blue-haired elfin girl was sold to one of the brothers that managed at a low-styled diner.

A young male was brought up next with bright blue eyes and spiky blond hair, longer pieces coming down the front. Looking him over he looked slightly too young to be much help. He merely watched as a single wife he knew who had twins bought the elf. Another boy was brought up to the stage. He still looked young, maybe not much older than the last one, but there was something in the elf's demeanor that said this one would be a nice pick. His innocent violet eyes were something to admire and spiky blond and violet hair color made him strangely eye-catching. After listening to one of the mayor's cronies talk like he was some animal that needed to be caged, the barkeeper rose his hand and once it was seen nobody dared bet against him. It was silent, mutual agreement amongst the town that the wifeless barkeeper could have the elf he wanted first so he wouldn't be so lonely during the days.

The elfin boy was sold for $150; the initial price for male children.

The barkeeper was handed a bracelet that was crafted with his name on it and he clicked it on the boy's thin, pale wrist. Afterwards, he led the boy to his bar and put the closed sign up for the rest of the day.

"Let's get a few things straight first, boy," the bartender started, turning on the boy as soon as everything was in place, "There will be no funny business around here; this is a place where I work and I value all my customers; I won't have you scaring them off by any rudeness. Is that clear?"

The boy nodded.

"Good, I have no intention of being cruel to you any more than is necessary so do as you're told and try what you can't and you won't be reprimanded. Now, you have a name, right?"

"Yugi, sir," the boy answered quickly, quietly.

Yugi, that's definitely a strange name indeed. He's already obedient though, was he always like this or did those people do something to them to make them like this before people bought them?

"You may call me Makoto. You won't be doing anything tonight, and I suppose I'll have to show you what you have to do before you can really work on anything so I'll be closed tomorrow as well. I'll show you to the room you'll be using."

"Thank you, sir," Yugi softly issued, eyes downcast since he'd arrived in the bar. He followed the taller man from the room and into a back space with a straw bed with some covers already made up, a wooden chair, and a small cupboard with a few holes in it and one of the doors tilted slightly off balance.

"This will be your room. The cupboard is for clothes, I won't have you wearing the same thing all day long every day so I'll take you out tomorrow to find something suitable."

Yugi looked up with surprise at this, but just as quickly put his head back down before Makoto even noticed it. He only nodded, even though he was sure the barkeeper had seen that either.

"You will be allowed breaks every few hours so you won't get too worn out, at least until you get used to your chores. If you fall asleep, however, I will come wake you. I won't allow any laziness as well."

"Yes, sir; I understand."

"Good; I think we'll get along just fine then."

It wasn't always like it was with little Yugi though. Most of the elves were treated horribly by the humans. They were expected to have certain demeanor or submissiveness and attitude such as: eyes down, unable to look at 'their superiors', much like Yugi's, and weren't supposed to talk back to or complain to anyone and were to answer back with "yes, sir," or, "yes, ma'am," etc. As for Yugi, he would've been beat for his extra replies.

A crimson-eyed, nineteen year old watched in silence as the crowd around the stage grew smaller and smaller. It disgusted him how people could act so uncivilized towards living creatures. Being who, or rather, what he was to the town he felt even worse. Looking down at himself, he blanched at the fancy dress pants and white-button down shirt.

"Yami, what are you doing sitting in the dust with your nice clothes," the deep, irritatingly superior-sounding voice of one of his father's coworkers asked with a snobby tone.

More like my babysitter Yami sighed. He stood and brushed off his pants. He hated being his father's son. He was the richest man in town and the mayor's right hand man. Needless to say, he couldn't protest against the elves being used as soulless beings with no free will to think of. He had to be the perfect son so he could be sited as a role model towards all other boys that saw him.

The gray-haired man glared at Yami's shirt and shook his head with disappointment. "What would your mother say if she saw you dressed like that? You're supposed to be setting an example."

Yami glared back even as he raised his hands to button the first five buttons on his shirt, having unbuttoned them purposely when he sat down to watch the cruelty shown towards the elves as they were sold off to the townspeople like farm animals. "What are you doing out here anyway? Surely this type of festivity doesn't interest you with my father's money to occupy you day in and out."

The older man sneered and looked like he wanted to argue, but turned on his shiny-tipped shoes and stalked away much like a child who didn't get what he wanted at the candy store. Yami watched the man's childish act with amusement, though on the outside it wouldn't look he enjoyed much of anything.

The entire town knew who he was just as much as they knew who his father was and what he did. He was the owner of the largest factories outside the city and earned pretty pennies every day, which caused all business men greedy enough to flock his way. Yami hated the attention he received from people who feared he would tell his father who was rude to him like a daddy's boy where, in reality, he could care less about what people thought of him. He was a loner who didn't talk much to anybody and got kicks out of insulting his father's partners, much like Ruther, who had just stalked away. He was the easiest to get a rise out of and Yami picked on him the most because of it. He wasn't sure why he himself acted so indifferent about everything and it was rare when he could feel some sort of emotion out of anything. For that reason alone it was why his father was getting so impatient with him. He couldn't find any girl to interest him and his father was starting to accuse him of trying to ruin the family line.

The nineteen year old turned to go back to the stage tiredly, trying to forget everything about his home life at least for one afternoon, even if it meant watching something as vile as watching living things sold off like pets. With one last sigh, he followed slowly after the other man.