Servitude: The Hydrangea Chapters

Chp 1: The Servant

Someone existing solely to be in service of another.

Depending on who you ask who does not carry this purpose, some would find that an honor. To be a dutiful and valuable cohort to another. Some would frown upon it. That being as such makes one no better than a codependent slave to the one they dedicate their lives to, with not much benefit for such dedication.

For the one who does serve another as their purpose in life, either way can be true.

Scorn for the ones who look down upon them, seeing and treating them no higher than some replaceable pawn. Or admiration for the ones who treasure those who serve them.

For the servant named Marlina, she was hoping for the latter.

Why the name Marlina? Well, that's what the voice in the giant purple flower told her it was. That, and that it was her purpose to serve another.

The giant purple flower? Yes, Marlina awoke one day only a few years ago, deep in a lush forest within a gigantic purple flower bud. Once she had awakened, a gentle and soothing female voice from the flower told her only those two things. In which the voice became silent and never spoke again.

The only things that Marlina remembers are from the moment she awoke from the flower until now. That entails Marlina traveling on foot from place to place, town to town, castle to castle, to discover what the voice meant to 'serve another'. Explanations from others she asked about this at least cleared up the common meaning of the phrase, to work for another person and fulfill their wishes as they are commanded. For some time, Marlina did just that. Offering her services to another, do all that she could and was commanded to do, and either leave from being mistreated or be cast away for her oddities.

There is one thing to mention about Marlina, about the just-mentioned oddities. Overall, Marlina seemed human in appearance. She walks like a human, talks like a human, and acts like one with emotions and independent thought. The only distinguishable thing about her that might raise a few suspicions was her vibrant purple-hued hair. Though her pale complexion had her stand out to the people she had met who bore tan skin, she had been described as pale as a corpse at times. But what many eventually found unsettling about her was that she was far from human. One trait, for example, is that she is not composed of flesh, blood, and bones. The physical form that composes Marlina is, in fact, hundreds of metallic flower petals that create a shell that resembles a human form. Even the 'clothing' that appears to be her garb was part of her metallic skin. This being her physical body, she was hollow within. No heart, lungs, stomach, or anything else to be found. One might describe her as a walking and talking suit of armor. 

Being such a creature, Marlina is not required to eat. At all. Sustenance was not something that required her to survive. Even if she did attempt to eat anything, nothing would have any flavor for she had no sense of taste. Another common need that most living creatures require is sleep and rest, which Marlina discovered in her years of travel was not a concern. She doesn't even feel physical exhaustion or pain. Which, in hindsight, does not sound like an imposition overall. But all kinds of touch was absent from Marlina, pleasant and unpleasant. She had never felt the burn of a flame but had not enjoyed its warmth either. The relief of the cooling wind on a blistering day, or the bitter chill from the harshest blizzards.

Mostly this perspective comes from looking at a being like Marlina. An intelligent and seemingly immortal being that does not require to eat, sleep, or rest. Who will do whatever task you please? Sounds like the perfect servant. In a way, Marlina is. And from what she has concluded, she seems to be just that. Unfortunately, through her years of serving others, some have taken her supposed gifts too much for granted. She worked endlessly for little appreciation or pay, treated as nothing more than an object at times, though she clearly showed humanity. She also noticed that almost all who had met her showed signs of contempt towards her presence with little reason as to why, but the words 'vile Colonial' were a common slur at her. At least Marlina has learned that she has free will and can choose to stand by or leave whoever she associates with. And from what she has seen from those she has served alongside, some did not even have that much to their names with their servitude. Some had to endure for their livelihood and families, some did for tradition, some being that such a life was all that was presented as an opportunity. For Marlina, neither of these things applied. Marlina, as far as she was aware, had no family. No family or anyone else of relation to her, no traditions that were instilled into her that she felt obligated to uphold.

Any individuals she offered her services to were of her own choice and reasoning. However, some of her choices had led to a few blunders due to her lack of experience with people and their complexities. From the day she awoke, she had learned that she had been traveling within the territories of the Empire of Urush, occupying the western third of the continent. The empire contained multiple kingdoms Marlina had found herself in, but her struggles would still linger. Feeling that she had exhausted her search in Urush, she sought out the other kingdoms told to lie across the desert wasteland known as the Everlasting Expanse, the eastern third of the continent being The Colonies of Madrya. Since she resembles those from that side of the continent, perhaps her search would be fruitful there.

Many have perished attempting to cross the wastes to make headway to the opposite ends of the continent, a desert that extended well over a thousand miles. With little sources of water and little to scavenge or hunt to the naive traveler, it certainly was a fool's worthy trek if one did not have the means to make such a journey. For one, the western half of the desert that borders Urush has been said to be home to fearsome creatures that dwell within the sand and attack unsuspecting travelers. Not to mention the sandstorms that ravage the land fairly often. It wasn't worth the effort for those lacking Marlina's 'anatomy'. To Marlina, she felt it was an opportunity to expand her world and perhaps find answers to many questions that have plagued her that she hasn't quite found yet. 

In the first couple days of travel, things were uneventful; the only things that she would see were dried shrubbery, small lizards, and snakes that crossed her path with sandstorms in the distance. With blistering days and bitter nights, neither impeded her progress. When she had found remains of travelers who did not make the journey here and there, she'd take the time and make shallow graves to put them to rest. What she has learned from others, they find their lives quite valuable. According to them, those whose lives have ended should be buried properly so their souls can rest. Though small graves were all she could manage without any tools, she still made the effort. And while she had dug these graves, she would wonder who these remains were and what choices they made to end up here.

Five days passed before a sandstorm started to brew, appearing in the distance on the late afternoon horizon. For humans, the relentless barrage of sand wears them down. Marlina only really struggled with visibility as more and more of it would be lost, otherwise she'd only hear the sand repeatedly bounding off her metal body. But as the claims held, the sound of the approaching sandstorm had distracted Marlina from being caught off guard by one of the fearful creatures that dwell within the sand.