Ash fell from the sky, as it did almost every day. The surrounding lands and kingdoms were in constant wars and the wind carried the debris to the shores where many lost and helpless people went to live. This is where Minerva used to live. She was a maid to the masters of Agros, who owned the lands she and everyone else lived. Most of the others that lived on the land with Minerva were workers too. The rest were the police and the masters themselves. The workers and police were under the rule of Master Hearn,  a mysterious man who was 6 feet and 9 inches,  black hair and dark brown eyes that were always almost covered by the hat he wore,  and Master Aringer,  who was a lively old man with white hair and keen blue eyes with a big belly. Argos was 159 miles long and 185 miles wide. 10 miles from the border of the land of Argos were different cities and camps belonging to bandit warlords. Most of the cities had dirt roads with many deep wells and little trees and were surrounded by huge stone walls. They had to have many deep wells for there was only one lake for 100 miles. That lake, lake límni tis zoís  was owned by the most powerful bandit warlord. It was surrounded by Fertile soil and luscious, diverse plants and trees and diverse, exotic animals. From its center it was 100 miles long on either side and 100 miles wide on either side.  

Many different people ruled the country. There were 100 warlords, 100 bandits, 200 master's or kýrios, and 30 bandit warlords. There were a few kings here and there but were mostly rare. Those who ruled the land were constantly at each other’s throat. They would kill each other’s subjects. The only 2 groups of people who were left alone were those who lived in Argos, For they never fought for any sides they stayed neutral, and the a group called the white grim, for they were feared by everyone, they were the most powerful bandits ever. They started out as just a group of rebels but grew into much more than that. 

Argos was filled with many things and the masters were kind and fair. They had schools, playgrounds, zoos and aquariums built for the kids and teens. There was a library, a hospital, a butcher shop, a farmers market, a craft store, a Trenchmart, a Trenchblue Pharmacy, a Bored Horse Stables, produce farms, livestock farms, and a bakery. Which were for the slaves on the land. Agros was surrounded by a huge red brick wall that had five gates to the outside world. The gates were open during the day with a guard on post; at night the gate was locked tight with two guards on the outside for the incoming traffic which was very rare. The people were contempt living in Agros, not one thought of the outside world on one's mind. Most who gained their freedom stayed. Some left in search of their family’s. Some left to explore the outside world.  

Minerva walked outside the average sized wooden hut she had lived in all her life, the morning was like any other. Minerva was a young lady that had jet black curls and her eyes were a sparkly emerald green. The hut was 2100 square feet.

“Minerva!” She looked up to see her master across the field. “Come here, my dear.” Minerva stood still for a second and sighed. Her Master was always kind to her but she always got a feeling that he was hiding something about his past. As she began to walk across the yard she saw the master's dog prance across the yard and soon that prancing turned to jumps and leaps then he finally tripped over thin air and rolled to a stop at Minerva’s feet, with a huge smile plastered on his face. Minerva let out a laugh which made Zwei get up and wag the little stubble he thought was a tail, which in turn made his entire lowered half move side to side.

“ Hello Zwei.” She whispered in a soft voice after she had finished laughing. “Yes Master Hearn.” she called as she came near to her master.

“ I need you to clean my bed chambers.” He proclaimed.

“Yes Master.” She nodded, her eyes looking at the floor. She had worked for her master since she was just nine years old. She walked inside the stone mansion and went to the closet.

She reached for a broom, dustpan, pale, sponge and a bucket. As she started to clean she began to dirft of into deep thoughts, wondering what it was like to live outside the sheltering walls of Argon. All of a sudden her imagination disappeared while she was cleaning the fireplace out and heard the sound of a ball fall onto the floor and roll away. She quickly walked to were it had rolled to a stop and bent to pick it up but stopped.

“Well that's weird, I’ve never seen that before. They look like scuff marks from a door that just barely touches the floor swinging open.” She looked up and saw a book that she had never ever seen the master read on the bookcase curious, she tried to pull the book of the shelf and found it was a lever and that

the bookcase moved when the book was taken from its spot. It was only slight, but she found that if she pulled on the bookcase it moved more. It was a room Master Hearn had hidden in their mansion, what it was used for required a bit of investigative work. Minerva looked around the room for half a minute, it was only filled with crates and sugar. With some scrolls here and there. She was about to leave before she was discovered, but one peculiar chest caught her eye. This one actually had a lock. Anything worth locking up must have some value to it, right? She thought to herself. She pulled the spare bobby pin from her hair she always kept incase of an emergency and picked the lock, a skill she had developed in her childhood, and opened the box only to find a mass of envelopes. Disappointed she turned to leave again, but curiosity overwhelmed her senses and she began looking through the letters. At first it just looked like a bunch of numbers to her, but soon she realized there was a dollar sign and that the papers were used to signify ownership of the slaves. All of them were organized neatly and alphabetically. Maybe hers was in there? As she rifled through the papers and found hers’, she heard a noise behind her. She quickly shoved what papers she had found that were hers and her friends in her uniform and peeked around the bookcase. When she saw that the room was clear she walked out, pushed the bookcase back, and the lever clicked back into place. As she began to work again, Hearn came in and glared at her. walking towards her he asked:

“I was in here not too long ago, Where were you?” Hearn was now towering above her and she felt a lump in her throat. I need to say something and fast. I could be in huge trouble. she was quick to think.

“I was in your bathroom cleaning, Sir.” She replied. She thought it to be a brilliant reason, but was then told,

“I checked the bathroom and you were not there.” Hear said with a low growl. Now the fear was starting to grow inside her heart.

“Sir you might not have seen because I was in the tub cleaning the drain.” she replied quickly without stumbling over a single word.

He gave her a piercing stare with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

“Alright then”. He said slowly as he turned and left the room. After she watched him leave, she heaved a huge sigh of relief. She quickly cleaned the tub and sinks along with the rest of the bathroom and bedroom. Walking back to her tiny house she spotted her dearest friend on her front porch crying. Her friend Rachel was a short brunet that could take you down in a second. Her eyes a blue gray witch shot daggers of fear into anyone who made her mad or got on her nerves.

“What's wrong?” Minerva asked, rushing to her friend.

“Nothing at all my compadre, quite the opposite in fact. I have been released for working so hard and came to say goodbye.” Rachel exclaimed from where she sat. I always work hard. Master house sparkles like a diamond because of me,Yet my master has not released me at all. Does he have any means for keeping me? As these thoughts raced through her mind she saw her friend Tyrus running and stop in his tracks Huffing and puffing. The girls looked at each other and laughed.

“Need a place to hide Tyrus. Those girls can be close by. You can hide in the house.” Minerva called out to him. Tyrus was always chased by girls everywhere he went. He stood up straight and smiled at the invitation and as he glanced behind him he saw the girls and with a look of fear ran through the doorway of Minerva’s house and slammed it shut. Right as he did a crowd of five girls stopped in front. Rachel laughed even harder at this sight. “Hey girls he was headed towards the school house. He told us he had stuff to do.” Rachel shouted at them. She and Minerva laughed and laughed as the girls raced to the other side of Argon where the school house was located. As soon as they were out of sight they walked inside tears rolling down their face. Tyrus was inside trying to catch his breath.

“Are they gone? Have they left? Can I stop hiding now? ” He asked. “Haha. Ra. Rachel told them. Haha that. That you went to. Haha to the school house. Haha. What happened. you seem to be popular with the ladies.” Minerva said between fits of laughter.

“I don't know. They just started running after me.” He responded as they walked into the kitchen. After they all caught their breath Rachel told Tyrus of the good news.

“My master gave me this and said I was free to leave tonight.” She handed the papers, that were in her hand, to Tyrus he looked at the papers and said.

“I have those. I was released a year ago. I didn't leave because I wanted a friend to go with me.” He handed it to Minerva. As Minerva looked at the papers she realized that they were like the ones she had taken from the hidden room she had found. Inside of it was the money they had earned and the amount they were bought for. Minerva, Tyrus and Rachel talked for a little while longer before it got dark and Tyrus decided to get his things and leave with Rachel when she went to go to the gates and leave early the next morning. When they left Minerva went back inside and looked at the papers she had grabbed from her master’s room. She then removed the one lose board and hid the papers. All but one was hidden. The one she held in her hands was hers. She began to read it and discovered that she was taken at birth and was sold. She became furious and saw the names of her kidnappers and sellers. She looked to find where she was actually born But it did not say. She wanted to seek revenge but was concerned. What would happen if my master found out? Will he hurt me? Kill me? Would he not care at all? She pondered all these things as she went to bed. When she woke up she thought back on the day before and made up her mind. She would leave with her friends and seek revenge. She grabbed the hidden papers and left her house and went to find her friends. The papers she took were hidden in her everyday clothes. She was not needed today by the master and could easily run back home and gather her uniform and supplies. She headed to the bakery where she knew Jacob worked. She reached for the door but heard a voice behind her. She jumped at the familiar voice.

“Master Hearn. What a surprise. Are you not happy with how I cleaned your bed chambers yesterday?” She said trying to hide her fear of being caught with a huge grin.

“ no it's not that. They look marvelous. I was wondering if you took some important papers. I can't seem to find them. They are very much needed. You see I was going to release you and let you leave in a week but without those papers you can't leave this land. You know how much I misplace things. was there anything on my desk when you walked in my room?” Minerva saw her chance and she took it. She could wait a week to be released.

“Well sir I was going to bring them to you but I haven't had breakfast yet so I came here to grab something to go. Here they are.” she pulled out the envelope with her name on it and handed it to him.

“Why didn't you hand them to me before. Did they fall on the floor?”

“Yes sir. They were found under your bed. They must have fallen and ended up there. I didn't look at it though. I just placed it in my apron pocket and kept cleaning. I forgot they were there until I got home and emptied my pockets” She knew she escaped getting into trouble by the hair on her neck with the lie. She didn't tell him that she also took the money out and put it under the floorboard at her house. He thanked her for giving it back and walked away. After he was out of sight she turned and proceeded to go inside the Bakery. She heard the sound of the bell ring as she opened the door. “Hey Kitty, what can I get you today. Will it be the usual donuts or are you actually going to get something else.” Jacob snickered. Minerva smiled at the sound of her nickname that she was given in seventh grade by her dearest friend who was more like a brother than anything else.

“Hey Wolfy. I think I will finally try that cinnamon roll of yours, and can you stop by my house tonight. Say 6. I need to talk to you and the rest of the gang.”

He nodded and gave her his most famous cinnamon roll. She thanked him and walked out and down to the butchers shop. I hope Bjorn is working today. She thought as she walked down the street. As she turned the corner she bumped into someone.

“Oh I am so sorry sir. I didn't mean to….. Bjorn I was just coming to see you. You think you could stop by my house at six? I need to talk to you and the others. Jacob is going.” Minerva said after her mind cleared up.

“ Haha hey there shorty. Yes I would love to come and stop by. I can even bring and cook up some steaks for us. I will talk to the other two. Let them know. I needed to stop by the farms and weapon barracks anyway. Need to sharpen my butcher knives and then go to the farm to kill one of the old breeding cows who got paralyzed from the neck down when another cow got into his pen and charged at him, and some old chickens who have stopped laying eggs. The Stables are on the way so I can stop by. It wouldn't be a problem. Plus it gives me an excuse to see my favorite stallion. I haven't fed Sylvia her favorite carrots in two weeks.” Bjorn exclaimed with a wide grin. Bjorn is a 6”11’, masculine, brown hair hazel eyes man who watched over Minerva. Since she was young.

“Are you sure about that? It seems like a lot for you to do all in one day before 5 o’clock.” Minerva gave him a concerned look.

“Haha I have done a lot more in one day for my job then what I would have done today.” Bjorn laughed his deep laugh.