28. Rubrics of Frozen Crescent

Everyone around the room was eagerly waiting to know Akshara’s name. Ruko urged Nail to speed up her conversation, “Quick… complete your words, Nail”
Nail revealed, “Axe”
The word AXE was echoed around the room and Akshara talked to herself, “Axe! Is that my name… why did I name after the tool?”
Nail paused for a while and continued her translation of bird’s language, “Wait, they are telling the short form of your name… you are Akshara on the whole, they say.”
Akshara articulated her name, “AKSHARA in short AXE. I don’t know who named me but I like my name.”
Alaso spitted anger in her words, “What a weird name? I haven’t heard any name in our clan sounding so spooky.”
Ruko gave Alaso a sharp look and it made Alaso anger to her core.
Akshara talked to her little birds, “Thank you Sun and Shine for being with me.”
Sun and Shine twittered in joy. Akshara wondered about the joy of the birds and asked Nail, “Can they can understand me?”
Nail nodded positively and replied with joy, “Axe, you can talk to them. They can understand you.”
Ruko smiled at Akshara to help her get her feet, “Well, you are called Axe.” Akshara asked their names in return, they introduced themselves,
“Alaso the rude” she left the room with a loud bang on the door. Ruko turned to other girls to warm them not to abuse Akshara with their words.
“Me, Nail”
“I’m Ruko”
“Call me Ember”
“People call me Chaos”
“I am Axe”
*****
A female of late sixties, with plump muscles, covered all over her body forward to all the rooms, shouting at young females to get ready to work. She appeared to be the lady-in-charge for the young girls.
The lady-in-charge entered the room where Akshara exist and shouted blindly, “Had enough fun? Get back to work… you rotten damsels…”
Ember replied to that lady-in-charge with irritation, “Get your ass out of my way…”
Chaos stopped Ember from talking to the lady-in-charge, “Shut up Ember. Madame, I apologize for her”. Chaos apologized to the lady-in-charge for sake of her friend and excused them to work.
Ruko gestured Akshara to follow her without looking at the lady-in-charge through her eyes and asked Akshara to lower her head while chief elders were around. Akshara inquired about the lady and the nature of the job to their roommates.
The lady in charge appeared to a balloon with head, hands and legs emerged in it. The head was dressed with tiny emerged tentacles on her head of red gaining her the rank of lady-in-charge.
Akshara asked Ruko about the place and the people around her. “I will tell you on our way to the Crystal Room. Now keep moving, Axe” Ruko replied in the ears of Akshara.
On their way to the Crystal Room, Akshara’s eyes rolled onto every corner. Her every look gives her mixed feelings of shock, humour, fear and anxiety. Akshara poked Ruko repeatedly to get her answers about the place.
Ruko placed her hand on the waist of Akshara and pulled her close. Akshara squirmed in the hold of Ruko, “Ruko, why do you hold me like this?”
Ruko asked her casually, “Why, What’s wrong? I am female by birth.”
“You are female, I can see that. (Akshara chuckled) But mine (pointed at her waist) is a sensitive place to touch. Ruko...” Akshara mentioned her discomfitures.
Ruko grabbed her waist even harder and whispered in her ears, “Look, hands on your waist are quite normal here. Get used to it. Don’t react to these trivial things. You gave a fine job to do where you have greater exposure to claim higher positions.”
Akshara little thought to herself, “Why every girl does weird in this place? I don’t think I am in the mortal world. Will I be abducted by any aliens or I must be sleeping. Though I forget about my whereabouts, I am sure I don’t belong here.”
The appearance of people around Akshara have tentacles that emerged on their heads, some tentacles were hard appeared like horns and some looked like a young horn which was fragile and needed to be taken great care of until the young horn becomes strong.
Akshara asked her roommates, “Hum, where are we heading?”
Alaso replied Akshara with a hatred sharp look, “To the training, Axe”
Akshara asked them quickly with the sudden jerk, even though couldn’t remove the hold of Ruko from her waist, “Training???”
Ruko replied simultaneously, “Don’t stop. Keeping moving…”
Alaso hurried her way leaving her roommates behind, “Follow me, girls…”
Akshara was baffled about the word training and asked again, “Ala…” Alaso flew her steps, so Akshara turned to Ruko to clarify her doubts, “What training? What type of job have I got? Is everyone heading to the same job?”
Ruko explained to her about their rules and prohibitions, “Work, Work, Work…Work to eat, Work to get the place. Work to survive. The outcome of your job reflects in your ranking.”
Some other girls from other rooms were rushing in a particular direction by pushing Akshara to the corner of the wall. Akshara yelled at them, “Hey, Watch out.”
Ruko rushed to Akshara and closed her mouth with her hands, “Shush... Don’t talk. They are from the white domain. If they heard you, no one can help you for fair destiny.”
Akshara was tired of spinning around mysteries and suspense, “I am totally confused, can you explain about this place and ranking system?”
Ruko explained, “Ranking is the system used here to address us. Better ranking gets better promotions. Alaso is the rank one virgin in the yellow domain. She is soon to be promoted to the white domain.”
Akshara voiced as if she understands her surrounding world in just one explanation from Ruko, “Oh, white and yellow. Great, can you tell what’s with the colour of domains?”
Ruko remarked, “Axe, no rush, I will tell you in detail. We have a reference for every rule. I will acknowledge you tonight.”
Akshara nodded but asked again, “What is the promotion? Higher rank?”
Nail replied Akshara in a lower tone, “There is a rumour about Alaso that she had slept with someone for promotion of rank one. But she denied it in the Las Oajar”.
Akshara asked too many questions to clarify her doubts, “Oh now…what is Lost Jar…?”
Chaos answered to Akshara, “Axe…it is Las Oajar…means it is the council of our kingdom…”
Akshara was acclimated with shock, “Kingdom…? Are we living under kingship sovereign?”
Nail interrupted Akshara, “Stop wondering everything, Axe…you need to be clarifying about our land. Only then, you will stop asking everything in wonder.”
Ember responded while dragging Akshara to mingle in the crowd, “Las Oajar has the final word, no one can deny it. But Alaso denied somehow gaining her support from the loyal members of Las Oajar. ”
Akshara answered everyone, “But…She doesn’t appear to be THAT type of girl to get promoted in THAT way. Rumour is always a rumour. Please don’t mind my asking, is the promotion essential?”
Ember replied, “Of course, Axe. Promotion is about recognition among men. Also, we have a chance to enter Royal Chamber.”
Nail added to Ember’s conversation, “Such recognition helps us to survive in a better way.”
Chaos continued where Nail stopped her comments, “Once we are popular among men in the Royal Chamber, our survival rate also increases in wealthy.”
Akshara asked, “What if, it is not? Why everyone is eager to enter Royal Chamber. What is hidden there?”
Ember answered the question posed by Akshara, “Did you see the female creature of soon-to-be-explode?”
Akshara replied with chuckled, “Who…are you talking about a fatty toad or balloon lady?”
Chaos placed her hand on Akshara’s mouth, “Don’t say that…you will be punished. The punishment here is very horrible beyond your imagination.”
Akshara replied with exhaled breathe, “Okay, okay…apologize me”
Ember continued her conversation, “That soon-to-be-explode lady will remark us with a sale-board around our neck and will be sold to many mind-rotten men who are waiting with lust to buy such young girls only to ruin for an entire lifetime.”
Akshara frowned her eyebrows, “That’s not fair. You must protest her. You must speak for yourself. If not you, no one can speak for yourself. Even if I don't know what is the so-called Royal Chamber is, I know it is not the only thing you can enjoy and feel safe. Females are to be recognized more for their talents or their inner beauty and not only for physical beauty alone.”
Alaso appeared from nowhere and she looked extremely hot in her outfit, “You can hold the speech but girls here are trained to serve men by all means. You can’t change anything. You too picked by someone and you just can’t deny that.”
The outfit merely revealed her body parts, her curves were visible and any man who was come across her would fall in lust to ruin her and Akshara wondered about her outfit than replying to her explanation.
Alaso in the perspective of Akshara,
Alaso covered her lower part with an extremely mini skirt and the upper part of her body was covered with transparent cloth. Her neck was left bare to reveal her beauty, her hands were stuffed with gloves and she stood on the high heel.
The eyes were deeply painted, her lips were coated with dark colour lipstick, and her blonde hair was combed to side along with her soft tentacles like emergence in her head.
The other young females' jaw dropped at the beauty of Alaso. Akshara was astonished to look at Alaso in such a sexy outfit and wondered to look everyone around that room. All looked hot and sexy in their outfits. Akshara nodded her head negatively to her roommates that she could not wear such things only for promotion.
Akshara exclaimed, “No... I can’t wear this. Don’t force me. I like to be covered.”
Suddenly a hand behind Akshara grabbed her waist and turned her, Akshara was shocked to the core that who could grab her by her waist. It was Alaso.
Akshara inhaled, “Alaso, What the hell, why do you all grab me in this way?”