[Sara POV] Year 5, Day 203 (After Midnight)

  Long silence settled. Heavy. Processing everything Dominos had shared. Understanding scope. Understanding pain. Understanding friend.

  Until Dominos started talking again. Voice different. Careful. Selecting words precisely.

  "Would you accept my soul oath?"

  Sara felt confused. [They talked about this already. In friend's home. Sara suggested giving to elf. Why asking again?]

  Dominos started explaining. Very slowly. Carefully. Building case.

  "I know I may sound like broken brainwashed fool here. But Artemis talked a lot about oaths. When to bind yourself. When not to. And oaths are not exclusive. For example—"

  She organized thoughts. Educational mode despite personal nature.

  "Seamstress who made your dress. Has number of maids. Probably all bound by soul oath. She's known as very protective of them. Actually set assassin guild bounty on client who tried to have fun with one. Killed him professionally for disrespect."

  Sara was bit surprised. [Had no idea about that. But not like Sara knows seamstress that well. Makes sense though. Professional protection. Good boss behavior.]

  "But it's quite well known that seamstress herself is also bound. To Dwarven Union leader. Guy usually called Boss-Boss. She serves him. Her maids serve her. Chain of service. All connected."

  Dominos looked at Sara. Direct. Clear. "So when we both want to serve same master—Master Void—this oath between us is no issue. No conflict. No problem. And I would follow Sara anywhere anyway. Oath just makes it official. Makes it permanent. Makes it real."

  Sara asked simple question. Direct. "Why Sara? What did Artemis say that made friend so focused on this?"

  Dominos thought. Processing. Remembering lessons. "Well, she said lots of things. But in short—if you find anyone you feel is above you. Doesn't matter how. Strength, intelligence, power. Whatever. And you know they won't harm or abuse you—submit HARD. Completely. Absolutely. And you'll have happy life."

  Pause. Evidence building. "Fact is, I've seen this play out hundreds of times in Syndicate. With no failures. As long as both points are filled—above you, won't harm—it works. Always."

  Sara thought that was bit random. [Strange logic. But maybe Sara understands. Way of belonging. Way of finding purpose. Way of connecting to something bigger. Friend needs this. Friend wants this.]

  Dominos continued. Softer. More certain. "Yes. And I never felt it before. Never had that belonging. Never had that certainty. But now—more and more sure about it. About you. About this being right choice."

  Sara asked practical question. "What does soul oath do? Will friend stay same?"

  Dominos laughed. Genuine. "Soul oath is worst oath to control anyone. If you see someone using blood oath—be wary. Control. Manipulation. Dangerous. But soul oaths? More like test of trust. Can't even give it if there's falseness in it. Soul rejects lies. Rejects force. Only works if genuine. If real. If completely honest."

  Sara felt relief. [Oh. Not control tool. Not manipulation. Just: genuine promise. Honest commitment. Real loyalty. Sara can accept that. That's friendship. That's belonging. That's what friend needs.]

  "How does it work? Giving soul oath?"

  Dominos explained. "I just need to give it. Then you decide. Accept or reject. People usually give fancy speeches—preparation. Mental readiness. But doesn't actually matter. It's more to prepare themselves mentally. But I can open my soul any moment. Training made sure we can. Can't really explain what it is or does. Never done it before. Only read about it. Heard about it. So just decide yourself. It's fine to reject if uncomfortable."

  She stood. Moved in front of Sara. Then knelt.

  "Sorry. It's mentally easier this way. Actually it's only way how to make it work. Position matters. Hierarchy matters. Submission needs to be visible. Physical. Real."

  Then she spoke. Clear. Formal. Final.

  "I, Dominos Penthante, promise to follow Sara forever."

  Same moment, Sara felt something strange. Overwhelming. Unexpected.

  Strange. Overwhelming. Like chain transferring story but much more. Too much information in single moment. Too much to really process completely. Just: everything. All at once. Dominos's entire life compressed. Transmitted. Shared.

  From small girl until this moment. Kneeling. Giving oath. Everything. Complete. Absolute.

  Sara tried to process. Tried to understand. Too much. But pieces came through. Important pieces. Significant pieces. Horror pieces.

  Life was horrible. By any definition. Horrible.

  Yes, she was rich. Wealthy family. Resources. But that was all. Everything else—abuse. Massive abuse. Every direction. Any time. Last few centuries especially. Constant exploitation. Professional cruelty from those who should have protected.

  [Friend suffered. Always. Long time. Never had safety. Never had care. Just: abuse disguised as family. Abuse disguised as opportunity. Abuse disguised as business. Always abuse. Different forms. Same result.]

  She was literally paying for right to work in assassin guild boot. Paying high-ranking guild member. Gold and body both. Just for protection. Just for neutral ground. Just for space where immediate death wasn't constant threat.

  [That's exploitation. That's more abuse. Friend paying for basic safety. Using both resources. No real retirement. Just: different prison. Different master. Same suffering structure.]

  Her memory of seven years training—positive. Proud. Happy even. Success story. Achievement. Professional certification. Graduation. Everything good.

  Sara saw truth underneath memory. [Training was nightmare. Torture. Breaking. Artemis's special project. Seven years of systematic destruction and rebuilding. But memory says 'proud.' Says 'success.' Says 'achievement.' Lies. Self-protection lies. Brainwashing made her remember wrong. Made horror into pride. Made suffering into success story.]

  Century in torture crew—friend claimed nice time. Good work. Belonging. Professional operation. Happy memories.

  Sara saw reality. [Horrible. Completely horrible. They tried being part of something. Everyone saw them as tools. More powerful client equals worse treatment. More dangerous target equals more expendable crew. Crisis after crisis. Constantly. No real belonging. Just: using each other. Surviving together. Nothing more.]

  [Sara wonders how they survived century. Probably luck. Pure luck. Eventually luck ran out. Standard criminal pattern. Friend was only survivor. That's more luck. Or maybe more skill. Hard to tell from memories.]

  And friend hated failures. Hated quitters. Deep hatred. Visceral hatred. So deep she'd killed several. Actually murdered them. For claiming partial credit. For getting off easy. For escaping before trap closed.

  [That's dark. Very dark. Friend's hatred made lethal. Made real. Made action. Friend killed people over label dispute. Over training credit. Over resentment. Sara understands hatred. But killing over it? Intense. Very intense. Friend has serious issues with this specific topic.]

  And soul had something. Sara felt it. Saw it. Strange thing embedded deep.

  Like what Sara seen in collars that tried brainwashing. But different. More subtle. Small hint at best. Barely visible. Almost undetectable. Easy to miss. Easy to ignore. Easy to think it wasn't there.

  But present. Real. Effective.

  [Behavioral programming. Training result. Side effect or design feature—hard to tell. Doesn't matter. Result is same.]

  [Find someone who cares about you. Someone who helps. Someone who protects. Then serve them with everything. Complete devotion. Total loyalty. Absolute dedication. That's happiness. That's purpose. That's belonging. That's what you need.]

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  [That's the programming. That's what seven years created. That's what Artemis built into every graduate. Subtle. Effective. Self-reinforcing once activated.]

  Sara understood how system worked. [They release graduates. Introduce to kind master immediately. Master is nice to them. Programming activates. Targeting found. Graduate latches on. Serves completely. Master stays kind because servant is perfect. Cycle reinforces itself. Self-fueling. Both sides win. Master gets devoted servant. Graduate gets belonging and protection. System works perfectly.]

  [But if master is cruel? If master abuses? System unravels. Programming triggers rejection instead. Self-fueling opposite direction. Servant escapes or tries to kill the master. Almost like safeguard built in. Warning system for masters. Don't abuse your programmed servants or they turn on you. Negative cycle. System fails catastrophically.]

  [What happened with friend—she ran. Immediately. As soon as released. No kind master to latch onto. No immediate introduction like system designed. No target for programming. Just: freedom. Escape. Distance. Self-preservation instinct.]

  [Then used centuries in assassin guild. Horrible place. Cruel place. Dangerous place. No belonging there. No protection. No genuine care. Just: survival. Competition. Constant threat. Endless exploitation.]

  [Programming had no target. Had no anchor. Had no master to serve. Just drifted. Unfulfilled. Searching. Waiting. Centuries waiting. For someone who fit requirements. Someone above her. Someone who wouldn't harm. Someone she could submit to completely. Someone who would accept her devotion.]

  [Sara was first one. First one who promised to help. First one friend believed completely. First one who fit all requirements. Programming found target. Everything activated. All devotion. All loyalty. All need to serve. All targeted at Sara.]

  [That's overwhelming. Very overwhelming. Friend's entire life. Friend's entire suffering. Friend's entire need. All focused on Sara now. All demanding acceptance. All requiring response.]

  Sara didn't know what else to do. [Rejecting feels cruel. Feels like abandoning friend. Feels like pushing away someone who suffered enough. Who just wants belonging. Who just wants safety. Who just wants someone who won't hurt them.]

  [Accepting feels heavy. Feels like responsibility. Feels like ruling when Sara doesn't want to rule. But friend needs this. Friend wants this. Friend is offering everything.]

  [Not accepting feels wrong. More wrong than accepting. Friend needs belonging. Sara can give that. Sara should give that. Even if uncomfortable. Even if uncertain. Even if heavy responsibility.]

  Sara made decision. Accepted.

  "Sara accepts. Friend's oath. Friend's service. Friend's loyalty. Sara accepts all of it."

  Simple. Direct. Final. Done.

  Dominos's face transformed. Pure relief washing over her. Pure joy. Happiness overwhelming everything.

  She launched at Sara. Hugging hard. Desperately.

  And cried. Loud. Uncontrolled. Centuries releasing at once.

  Sara held her. Awkward. Unsure. [Sara not good at this. But holding seems right. So Sara holds. Sara waits. Sara lets friend cry.]

  Minutes passed. Crying subsided. Reduced to quiet sobs. Then silence.

  Dominos pulled back. Tears everywhere. Face messy. Eyes red. But smiling. Genuinely smiling.

  "Thank you. You have no idea what this means."

  "Sara is glad friend is happy."

  [Friend has belonging now. That's what matters. Sara accepts responsibility. Sara will protect. Always.]

  After crying stopped, Dominos walked a few steps away. Collected herself. Professional mode returning.

  "You wanted to know what soul oath can do. More than just loyalty."

  [Oh. Friend wants to show. Wants to demonstrate. Wants to teach Sara about oath. Interesting. Curious. Sara wants to know.]

  Sara nodded. Curious. [Yes. What does oath actually do? What's practical effect?]

  "Ask me to stand on one leg. But really ask. Using oath. No idea how exactly, but heard it should be self-explanatory."

  Sara tried. Simple command. "Stand on one leg."

  Nothing happened. Dominos didn't move.

  But Sara felt something strange. Wrong. Like command didn't work because... Sara wasn't using it right? Like some magic was there. Some spell available. Some connection possible. Hard to describe.

  [Strange feeling. Like ability waiting. Like tool unused. Like something Sara needs to activate properly.]

  Sara focused. Felt that strange connection. That oath magic. That binding between them.

  Said again. "Stand on one leg."

  And Dominos moved. Immediately. Automatically. Standing on one leg. Perfect balance.

  Then started laughing. "It's funny feeling. Strange. Like I suddenly had idea I really need to stand on one leg. Urge. Compulsion. But..." She instantly added, urgent, "Don't stop me from putting leg down."

  They watched each other. Minute passing. Sara becoming nervous. [Does friend stand like that forever? Did Sara break friend? Did oath trap friend in one-leg stance permanently? That would be stupid. That would be bad. Sara made mistake.]

  But then Dominos just put leg down. Walked few steps. Normal. Free. Unaffected.

  "See? That's all soul oath can do. Soul can't record anything well. Any command given disappears in minute. Maybe less. Free will returns. Nice as trust spell. Shows connection works. But not much else. Not control tool. Not slavery device. Just: temporary suggestion that fades fast."

  She paused. Serious. Warning mode. "I've also heard soul oaths may unravel if you try giving commands really harmful or against subject's will. Like ordering suicide. But better not test that. Also heard stories where people killed themselves while making fun tests. If command taken by both sides as joke but executed literally? Can actually kill yourself without understanding what you're doing. So better not test limits."

  Sara nodded. [Sara doesn't want to control friend like that anyway. Sara doesn't want to rule. Sara doesn't want to force. Oath is trust. That's good. That's acceptable. Sara can work with that.]

  "Sara doesn't want to control friend. Just wanted to understand what oath does. Knowledge. Not usage."

  However, killing yourself example was bit strange topic. Neither had good next subject to discuss. Uncomfortable silence forming.

  Then something went wrong.

  Dominos went quiet. Eyes unfocused. Staring at nothing. Lost.

  She gasped suddenly. Like she couldn't breathe. Like she needed air desperately. Choking. Struggling.

  Then: collapse. Falling. Screaming. Agony radiating.

  Blood coming from her mouth. Screaming in pain. Real agony. Body convulsing violently.

  Sara approached fast. [What's wrong? What happened? Friend was fine. Now dying? Sara needs to help. Needs to fix. Needs to save friend.]

  Snakes came too. They'd been watching the oath part with great interest. But now concerned and uncertain about what was happening to Dominos.

  Dominos just writhed on ground. Twitching. Screaming. Pain overwhelming.

  Sara panicked bit. [Should move inside? Use potions? Get help?]

  She pulled healing potions from Item Box. Elixirs. Various grades. Whatever might help. But what was wrong? What to treat? Sara didn't know. Couldn't identify problem. Couldn't diagnose.

  But then Sara noticed something. Twitches seemed lower. Pain sounds reducing. Whatever was happening—getting better. Improving. Resolving itself.

  [Oh. Not dying. Transforming maybe? Changing? Something happening. But not death. Friend improving. Sara should wait. Should watch. Should let process complete.]

  Few more minutes. Pain reducing. Twitching stopping. Body calming.

  Dominos managed to half-stand. Shaking. Unsteady. But—smiling.

  Sara felt confused. [Friend in agony. Now smiling. What happened? Sara doesn't understand.]

  Dominos started talking again. Breathless. Excited. Something changed. Looking at snakes and Sara with wonder. "I did not expect that. But I guess it qualifies."

  Then her entire body was covered with liquid. Poison. Instantly. Coating everything. Then disappeared again just as fast.

  She laughed. Hard. Genuine. Took stone from ground. Put into... nothing visible. Just: stored.

  Sara was confused now. [Since when does Dominos have Item Box? She carries spatial ring. What's happening? Sara has some idea but not sure. Better ask.]

  "Friend has Item Box now? Since when?"

  Dominos explained. Still excited. Still breathless. Still processing.

  "Monster gifts. It's known—powerful monsters can give gifts to those who submit. But usually those gifts are more curses than gifts. Monsters have no real need to share. Don't care about humans. Give useless things. Dangerous things. Wrong things."

  She looked at Sara. At snakes. Grateful. Amazed. "I guess I got lucky. Got Item Box—feels huge, can't detect how big actually. Probably from you." Gesture at Sara. "And some version of mana heart from snakes probably. When I collapsed, felt pain in belly. Something added there. Best I can describe?"

  She continued. Professional assessment. Clinical despite excitement. "And given how I can make poison now—before was impossible. Small droplet and I'd run out of mana. Now I can probably fill small lake with it. Just: generate. Endless. No limitation. That's mana heart doing."

  She took small knife. Cut finger. Blood came but looked strange. Not normal. Wrong color. Wrong consistency.

  Sara could clearly feel it. Very mana-heavy. Concentrated. Like mana snake blood but different. Human but modified. Changed. Enhanced.

  "Well." Dominos looked at blood. "This answers that. Blood changed. Mana concentration extreme. Like snakes. Gift from them probably. Monster gift. Real gift. Actual useful gift. Not curse. Not trap. Just: power. Ability. Enhancement."

  "Sara is happy friend likes gifts," Sara said. Pleased. Satisfied.

  Dominos hugged Sara again. Hard. Started crying again. Happy crying. "Yes. Very much. Thank you. Thank you for everything. For acceptance. For protection. For gifts. For belonging. Everything. Thank you."

  Sara waited. Again. Until friend calmed down. Again. [Friend cries a lot. Happy crying. Sad crying. Relief crying. All the crying. Sara waits through all of it. Good friend behavior. Patient behavior. Accepting behavior.]

  When Dominos finally calmed, Sara talked. Serious tone. Important matters. "Sara doesn't really want to give commands. But feels need here. Important things to say. Future to plan."

  Dominos looked up. Listening. Ready. Willing.

  Sara continued. Clear. Direct. Organized. "When friend goes back to Central. Pack all things from apartment. Personal belongings. Everything that matters. Friend has large Item Box now. All should fit there easily."

  Dominos nodded. Understanding. Accepting.

  "Then buy ticket back here. Next rotation. Whatever schedule works. Come back to Borderwatch. Come back to cave. Come back to home."

  Sara paused. Weight building. Important part. "Friend should not go back to assassin guild boot. Way they handle friend there is wrong. Exploitation. Abuse. Not protection. Wrong place. Bad place. Friend doesn't belong there."

  She gestured. Encompassing. "Sara and snakes wait for friend here. This is home now. Safe home. Protected home. Friend's home."

  Then pointed at dress. Small addition. Hope maybe. "Now that Sara ready—dress ready—maybe can find chance soon to approach elf. Master Void. He should be back soon from Central. Friend can meet properly. Can serve properly. Can have belonging complete. Everything friend wanted. Everything oath promised."

  Dominos started crying again. Happy crying. Relief crying. Everything-clicking crying.

  "Yes, Sara. Thank you. Happy to live here. With you. With snakes. With dress. With everyone. Happy to have home. Happy to have belonging. Happy to serve. Everything. Thank you."

  [Friend is very happy. Cries a lot when happy. Sara accepts this. Good tears. Relief tears. Belonging tears. Better than suffering tears. Much better.]

  [Sara made good choice. Friend has home now. Friend has protection. Friend has purpose. Friend has family. Monster family. But family. That counts. That matters.]

  [Everything Sara wanted. Friend safe. Friend happy. Friend belongs. Success. Complete success.]