Disclaimer: I don't own TT or the characters in it.
Summary: When Atlantis' only prince, Garth, turns of age, a special gift is in order: his first human slave. Not just any human though, but famous archer, Roy Harper. Very AU. Slash. Rated for language, sex-type things, mentions of drugs and slavery.
Note: Very AU. Garth lives under-water is Atlantis, Starfire on Tamoran and Raven in Azarath and so forth. Tamoran, Azarath and Atlantis know about each other, I'm not sure if this would ever happen in the comic/cartoon but whatever. There are no Titans and no super villains. Not all the Titans will be in this fic, but there may be cameos.
I know that Carnifax - a great writer, so go read her spaqua stories now! - has started a 'Roy-is-Garths-slave' fic - 'A man owned' - but once I mentioned to her how spooky it was that I had started writing one myself, she told me to continue it. Something about seeing how each others plays out XD
So, but yeah, she gave me - basically - permission to post this, considering she got to the idea first. And soooooo… I'll dedicate it her. Her and my lovely DA sister XxDemonBBxX - who will totally kill me after reading this :P
Chapter one: The gift.
A sharp, loud knock at the large door awoke a dark haired teen from his slumber and he forced himself to stumble groggily out of his bed, knowing that he would never be allowed to sleep in. Especially not today. Rubbing the sleep out of his all purple eyes, the boy swung the heavy wooden door open to reveal a very scared looking girl. She 'eeped' and turned red, forcing her eyes not to stray down the handsome boy's nearly naked body. He cocked a thin dark eyebrow at her silence and she quickly corrected herself, desperately trying to remember her training.
"G-good morning, your highness." She curtseyed as she spoke. "I h-have been sent to… to wake you."
The boy, still half asleep, turned to look out his tall windows. "It's not even dawn yet." He murmured, twisting his neck to work out the kinks. "What time's it?"
The young maid swallowed nervously. "Err… I left the kitchen to wake you at half four. I-It must be near to five now, Prince Garth." He groaned and the girl quickly continued. "Their majesties wish f-for you to join them, err… in the throne room…?"
The prince, now more awake, was confused as to why the girl was so nervous. Practically the whole kingdom knew of how… well, unstuck-up he was… unless this was one of the many new maids his father had hired? Decideding that this was the reason, he immediately changed his stance to a more relaxed and less intimidating one.
"The throne room you say? Hm, odd I wonder why…"
The girl looked happy to be able to answer one of his questions. "I believe it has something to do with a party of sorts, my lord, and they did tell me that you were to be wearing adequate clothing when down there, I -" Suddenly, she paled, looking completely mortified that she had spoken so much. Garth raised his eyebrows, amused, as she blushed. "S-sorry, sir, it was not my place…"
Garth laughed and waved a hand to dismiss her apology. "Not to worry. Now, a party…?"
The maid nodded, speaking slower now as if to make sure she only said what was needed. "Not today, I'd imagine… B-but a party that needs your assistance? As for today… I was told to prepare for guests…-"
Garth groaned suddenly, smacking his hand against his head. 'How could I have forgotten?' He thought, not sure whether to be excited or fearful of the looming event. He swore roughly under his breath, only realising he had done it when the maid gasped. He fought the urge to swear again, he was forever forgetting that princes are not to swear - especially in the presence of a lady. He gave an apologetic smile to the girl.
"My apologies. Now, I must be getting ready; thank you." Knowing that he was allowed to not wait for an answer - and that he shouldn't care about one - the dark haired boy shut his door and turned to lean against it with a sigh. He shouldn't be worried, he should be happy! But, the feeling of uneasiness refuse to leave him, even as he washed up quickly and got dressed.
'I'm being stupid.' He told himself. 'I bet no other Atlantian was worried about turning of age…but, then again, no other Atlantian has to deal with the king and queen celebrating it along with the whole of freaking Atlantis!'
It wasn't just the celebrations he was worried about - though he was worried about the,. It was the party that was being thrown in his honour in just a few weeks. He had never had - nor been too - a party before, due to his eyes. Besides, for many years, his mother, the queen of the under-water kingdom, had been trying to find him a suitor. However, his father - ever the traditionalist - had opposed to her 'matchmaking' as Garth had not been of age. But now… after today… there would be nothing in-between him and the line of 'possible suitors'. He shuddered at the thought of them and tried to turn his thoughts to happier things. Like the presents that were surely awaiting him down stairs…?
There was a split second of hesitation before Garth ran out the room at full speed, almost falling down the stairs in an attempt to get to the throne room.
Yawning, Garth looked outside. 'It must be around ten… By the gods! I've been here for five hours?! …Seemed like longer…' He responded to himself dryly. True, he had been excited at first but five hours of sitting and doing nothing but looking at gifts brought to you from people you don't even know… well, it was a little more than boring.
"… And this next gift is from Koriandr', princess of the planet Tamaran." Garth's pointed ears perked as the information came from the stewards mouth. Kori was a great friend and he had missed her terribly. "She sends a note of regret at not being here but accepts the invitation to the party." Garth sat up straight, a little annoyed that his parents had sent out the invitations with asking him, but his excitement over ruled it. A square box was carried to him and Garth let out a sound of astonishment as the lid as opened.
His mother reached over to lift the sparkling necklace out to inspect it. The wiring was black but the stone was a deep purple, matching Garth's eyes. Like all the other presents, even though this one was more important to him, was inspected and then placed away for later.
The steward spoke again, making Garth more excited.
"…And this would be from priestess Raven, of Azarath. She sends her best wishes and says that she shall be here before the party." Garth nodded, Raven spend much time in Atlantis; the demon child disliked her home dimension and enjoyed coming to the castle when ever possible. A heavy, wrapped, square parcel was passed to him and - forgetting, in his eagerness, that he was to maintain a royal appearance - he quickly ripped open the paper to reveal a large book called 'Worlds and dimensions.'
Garth grinned down at the large book. Raven knew how much he was interested in other words from his own. Having never been outside Atlantis - or, even, the safety of the castle - he had always been intrigued by the land-world's and the other dimensions. Meeting Raven and Koriandr' had excited him to no end and he was desperate to learn their ways. Of course, their where so many other planets and dimensions he had yet to learn of but the world that he was most curious of, was actually the closest to him.
No humans could survive the trip down to Atlantis unless taken by extreme measures and there was no chance that they could find they're own way. They could live in the main city, but only because the dome surrounding it stopped the pressure and filtered oxygen in. Some Atlantians, depending on their status and wealth, kept human's as slaves or 'Pets'. There were none in the castle though, and thus he had never even seen one; only in the few books he owned on the subject.
A cough brought him out of his trail of thought as his father removed the book - eyeing it with distaste - from his lap to allow the next gift to be presented. The steward spoke again, sounding more annoyed for having waited for so long.
"The last gift is from the race of -" The man hesitated, re-reading his information before continuing. "The race of the Psions." (1)
Garth's eyebrow's shot up. The Atlantians had never been on good terms with the Psions; the race had a very shady past. Garth wasn't allowed to know the details but what he did know is that the Atlantians and the Tameranians had been allied against the sadistic group of alien scientists many years ago; when the Psions were kidnapping different species of humanoids and experimenting on them. A war had been very close to breaking out but, for reasons unknown to Garth, the Psions backed down. Since then it had been a shaky relationship between them and Garth was confused about why they would send him a present. His question was answered when the steward opened his mouth again.
"The Psions wish to congratulate Prince Garth on becoming of age and hope that their gift will help strengthen the bond between us and them." Garth held back a snicker at the faces his parents and the servants present in the room made; the Psions had sent him a gift to make peace - or, rather, suck up. The steward walked out the open doors - presumably to get said gift. Garth sat in silence as the room broke out into whispers and jumped only slightly as his father pressed his hands into Garth's ears in an attempt to block out his own whisper to his wife.
"Berra… What do you make of this? It's quite a surprise for them to make such a bold move."
The queen shuffled slightly before smoothing out the wrinkles in her gown. "I'm not sure… I heard that they sent Koriander' a present last month, too, when she come of age!" She whispered back shaking her head. "Apparently it was her own human slave, right from Earth! Think of the trouble they must have gone through for that."
The king frowned, tightening his hold on his son's ears so that their voices became more muffled. "How odd…"
"Thar? What's odd?"
The elder Atlantian leaned in slightly. "Didn't you know? Young Raven was also given her own human as a slave from them… six months ago, was her birthday wasn't it?" His eyes went wide. "You don't think that -"
Four sets of steps entering the room cut the king off; who immediately sat straight in his chair again and released Garth from his hold. Garth, whose head had been pushed down slightly to look at the floor, lifted his head when his mother let out a gasp. When his dark eyes found the steward, he let out one of his own. Two guards stood beside the steward, who at this point looked rather uncomfortable, and in between them was a slightly smaller figure that Garth instantly recognised as a chained human boy, his face down as he looked determinedly at the ground.
He looked around Garth's age and was probably just as tall - if not taller than the prince. He had pale skin, almost like his own but without the almost gray-ish tone that Atlantian's possessed and a shock of dark, wet orange hair that fell into his face. Garth only realised that his father had moved out of his chair when the king placed a hand under the boy's chin to bring up his face. The human had a slightly pointed face, with smooth clear skin marred only by a light dusting of freckles over his nose, and a stubborn scowl adoring it. The wet hair was messy and fell about his face and eyes.
And what eyes! Garth had never seen such a infatuating green colour and he never, ever expected to see it in someone's eyes. The king tuned the boy's head to himself, obviously inspecting the human as if he was another one of Garth's gifts, allowing the prince to see the side of his head and the glittering red stud that was pierced into the boy's ear.
"He doesn't look to bad." Garth blinked at his father, who was now circling the human. "He'll have to be checked out, of course." He paused and sighed, starting back up to his throne. "This just got a lot more troubling." He murmured, sitting down heavily. The queen nodded, chewing her lip in thought of something to say.
"…D- does he have a name?" She said finally.
The steward nodded and hurriedly shifted through his sheets. "Ah, here we are. On Earth he was known as 'Roy Harper'. I, err, have the information on him here…"
Garth's mother motion the servant forward and took the papers gently before reading through them. "Hmm… American… 17... Family history unknown… Adopted… Medical history unknown… there's no criminal record here either… Career - Archer?"
She lowered her papers to peer at Roy before looking quickly at her husband and shrugging. The king hummed in thinking, eyeing the boy again.
"I suppose he could have the build for it… We'd have to see him in action to know of course." He chuckled. "I doubt he could shoot very far though… he doesn't look strong enough for it."
Roy's head snapped up to narrow his eyes at the king and Garth was amazed. The boy didn't seemed that bothered about being kidnapped and taken as a pet for someone but he looked utterly insulted and defensive about his skills being underestimated.
Garth was completely confused at the situation. This was a boy - a human boy! Was this a joke? There was no way Garth could accept a person as a gift! He had always been taught to accept all gifts with thanks and appreciation, he had been taught to ignore the feelings of others…. But his heart had always gone against it. He had a hard enough time accepting that they had servants - he only did so because they were Atlantians, his own race. To take someone else of another race… Garth's head spun. Did his parents not see that this wasn't going to happen?!
Apparently not, as seconds late his mother spoke again. "I suppose we should have him examined and cleaned up?" She pointed at a few servants. "Get the medical examiner and a human researcher, they'll do the job." Her hand moved to some maids. "Draw him a bath and some suitable clothing."
The king tapped his chin. "The room next to Garth's isn't being used… He could be put in there… He should be near him after all." He nodded to himself a few times before ordering the room to be set up and Roy to be taken to the examining room.
Which is when Garth snapped; standing up abruptly as Roy was turned forcibly towards the door, his voice shook as he spoke.
"What is happening!?"
The room was silent and Garth's call rang out on the stone walls. Everyone stopped moving and turned to look at him, including Roy who raised a red eyebrow and looking like someone in great amusement despite his situation. Garth's parents stared at him in shock, neither able to do any thing but blink at their son's outburst.
Garth pointed a finger at Roy whose other eyebrow joined the first in surprise. "He- I …I…" He breathed deeply. "That is a human!"
Roy snorted and Garth turned to stare at him; partly because it wasn't the thing to do in a situation, partly because it was the first sound he had made but mostly because no one had ever done something like that to him before. He was used to not questioning and not making fun of what he said; the royal part of him despised how the boy didn't know his place while he himself was rather excited by this prospect. But those thoughts were pushed from him as his father gripped his arm and guided him down to his seat.
"Garth," He hissed into his sons pointed ear. "What has gotten into you?" Garth blinked several times as his mother stood to shoo everyone back to their business. "You should know better than to react like that."
"I… But, it's a human." Garth said, looking up at his father, as if it explained everything.
"A human that is to be your personal slave."
Garth paused, thinking carefully. "And… You do not think this wrong? T-to have pulled someone from their home and enslave them?"
The queen sighed, having gotten rid of everyone else she moved forwards to kneel at Garth's feet and take his hand in hers.
"Oh Garth, my little prince, you think so much of everyone else." She smiled up at him gently. "I know it seems hard, but soon you will come to realise that not all is perfect in the world."
Garth slipped of his chair to sit crossed legged in front of his mother and, squeezing her hand, he smiled sadly. "I know that."
"You also know, from your lessons with Orin, that almost every world and dimension has been involved in slavery at one time or another. Besides, we treat them well, do we not?" She smiled reassuringly down at him. "This is just another lessen for you; you must learn not to let your emotions show… nor to let them get in the way -"
"'You must learn to sacrifice all your morals and emotions for the good of your kingdom'" Garth finished the rehearsed line in a bored tone. "I know…I know."
The queen sighed softly. "You will do well to remember you lessons, my little prince." She lent down slightly to kiss Garth on his forehead before standing and brushing down her skirt and striding out of the room.
Above him, his father laid a hand on his head. Neither moved for a moment, both letting the days comings sink in. At last, the kings moved his hand and started towards the door. He hesitated, as if to say something, but just shook his head and continued on.
Garth sat in the throne room for several minutes, wondering what to do. In the end he realised that it as now or never to go and talk to his new 'pet'.
(1) - The Psions are the group of aliens that kidnapped Starfire and Blackfire when they were younger and tortured them - thus giving them their powers - in the comic. I read this on Wikipedia so don't press me for details. Obviously, in this story, they didn't but they are known for experimenting and torturing the people/aliens/ect that they capture. I'm thinking they might play a bigger part later, maybe.
Kori, Raven and their slaves - 3 guesses lol - will be introduced for Garth's party and Bee and the twins should make their way in just before or just after. I'm still thinking of a way to get Cyborg in - also, even if I want to write him in… I'm not very good at writing him. -Sweatdrop-
I really hope I got the names and stuff right. -shot-
Send me a review and I'll love you forever :D
xxx