Deals you can't refuse!

In a Solvesian village, long forgotten to Maru’s mind, was a girl, no older than five years old. She is hungry, and her mother is sick. Her father has been dead for little less than a year but he leaves them nothing. She has little in her head aside from the wit she inherited from birth and the skills she picks up from watching other street rats. When a caravan of merchants enters her village, she uses the opportunity she is given. She steals a golden trinket from off the belt of a boy, barely twelve, but the ‘leader’ of the merchants despite this. His devastated cries barely reach Maru before she’s already taking off into the crowd, on her way back home.
 
But they meet again, just before Maru can tell her mother about her prize, when the boy takes her away. She yells for her mother’s help but her mother doesn’t say anything to her only daughter, only watching as they guide her back to their carriages and away from her home.
 
Maru doesn’t even notice that their home is now stocked with much more than what they had that morning.
 
The boy is named Atlas, she is told on the carriage ride away. She still hides the watch from him. He was an orphan, but he was brought into the Nonya family.
 
Maru has a mother, she tells him.
 
No, Atlas tells her, you don’t.
 
She stopped being her mother the moment she sold her to the Nonya family. At least that’s what Maru would tell you now.
 
But she doesn’t believe him, not until they’re half way to Solis, getting into a strange horseless carriage, and she is treated to the first sights of the world outside of her village. To a hot meal after all this time.
 
She doesn’t believe him, not until he offers her a deal.
 
A deal she cannot refuse.
 
Earlier in the week, Maru had only wanted her father back, food, and love from her mother.
 
Now all she wanted, at the age of five, was a family.
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While the strange blocky buildings of Solis intimidated her at first nothing could have prepared Maru for the center of the Nonya headquarters. Of similar material to the other ‘conkreete’ buildings the only difference was the familiar architecture of the building- it reminded her of the lord’s castle just a few miles out of her village, only bigger. The horseless carriage kept on down the sleek road until it stopped at what Maru perceived as the center, a towering building painted in beautiful maroons, blacks, and gold. Despite it being the most familiar of all the bleak buildings seen thus far, it gave off an aura of dread that was more palpable than ever before.
 
Atlas opened the door to the horseless carriage and reached out a hand to help her out but she scuttled past him and out of his reach. She was still carefully keeping the golden ‘woch’ tucked away in her sleeve out of view.
 
Grumbling to himself he waved to the other merchants, giving them orders for a moment before placing a hand on Maru’s shoulder, leading her towards the towering building.
 
“Just… keep quiet, I’ll do my best to convince her but..” He shook his out as if he was dislodging the thought, “No, I’ll convince her. Just stay by me and bow, you know how to bow, right?”
 
Maru nodded, keeping her eyes facing forward toward where Atlas was guiding her out of anxiety. Everything in the building was bright and beautiful but the lights were starting to overwhelm her and all the garish beauty only blended together as she stumbled forward. Even the voices in her head, quietly mumbled in awe at the opulence around them.
 
She only vaguely registered the long stretches of hallway they navigated before coming to a huge set of dark wooden doors that Maru only noticed once they were in danger of running straight into them. Emblazoned with huge golden door knockers she watched as Atlas lifted one and knocked them against the doors, the sound echoing through the whole chamber.
 
There was a muffled voice, Maru could only imagine how loud it would have actually been if heard without the huge doors in front of them to quiet them. Atlas with both hands pushed the two doors open and they entered a humorously small chamber. It was similar to the long hallways they had already been walking down, only now lining close to the walls were trinkets even larger and shinier than the one Maru held in her sleeve. They were enclosed in huge see-through boxes, as if made of giant windows.
 
Aside from them were huge men, even bigger than the samurai she saw accompanying Atlas and his caravan into her village. These men were dressed in the full regal dress of their status compared to the light leather that those had worn, their menpō face masks gave them the impression they would come over and eat Maru just from her presence alone. They looked like the devils in the stories her father would tell her.
 
But none of them moved as Maru and Atlas shuffled down the long hallway-like room, not until they approached the end, when they slowly marched to enclose them as if denying their escape from behind.
 
Maru momentarily looked back to witness this before focusing again towards the end of the chamber where a regal looking woman sat upon an elevated platform, aside her standing was a man dressed like the lord of Maru’s village back home. Compared to him however they seemed too calm, not giving her the sneering look usually present on fancy nobles that made Maru feel as though she were beneath them.
 
“Mother Nozomi, I’ve returned from the Solveis trip as requested.” Atlas spoke, finally letting go of Maru’s shoulder and moving beside her. She watched as he bowed and almost tripped over herself following his example. She looked up again at the regal lady but her expression hadn’t changed, in fact she was barely even regarding her anymore.
 
Instead she was looking at Atlas, gesturing for him to stop his bow, “I am glad you are in good health, dear Atlas. I was just informed by your brother here that you ran into trouble with thieves on your way home. Ideally there were no complications with that?”
 
Atlas’ posture went rigid as he rose, “Not exactly, mother, we… were unable to recover an item of importance. The golden pocket watch meant to be gifted to you from the Lord of the Grand Duchy was lost. It was my fault, I believed that holding it personally would safeguard it from theft.”
 
Instead of the lady, the man standing next to her spoke, “Yes, well, mother agreed with my assessment that you were clearly unable to uphold the duties placed upon you. Your inexperience in leading a solo journey surely would’ve led to this outcome, so it was expected in one way or another.”
 
“Not to say you did not do a fine job completing the other objectives of your trip, but I cannot oversee the loss of such a gift. I believe I will need to reconsider sending you on further trips out of Solis after this.” Nozomi would continue from the man’s, Atlas’ brother’s, assessment.
 
“I-I understand mother.” Maru didn’t quite understand what was going on but she noticed that Atlas seemed upset, not quite on the verge of tears as when Maru first saw him after stealing the watch, but close.
 
“Now that that matter has been partially discussed, who is this child you have brought before me? Not one of the thieves, I presume?” Nozomi turned her attention to Maru now, the girl shifting from side to side from the sudden scrutiny. Not knowing what to do without Atlas’ instruction she bowed again.
 
“This… I encountered a woman on the return trip, she was very ill and refused to accept the charity I offered without providing payment in return. She… sold her daughter in return for supplies and medicine. Her name is Maru. I understand I have no right asking such a thing after failing in my mission to Solveis but I wanted to beg you to show her the same mercy you showed to me.” Atlas turned to look at Maru and nudged her from her bowing position, forcing her to look again into Nozomi’s eyes.
 
The lady looked her up and down and the same looming dread that Maru was familiar with returned, she looked disappointed, like her father, like the lord of her village, like her mother.
Voices that had stayed mostly silent during the trip having been drowned out by Maru’s anxiety now returned in full force, she could hear a dozen unhappy voices cursing the woman in front of her, the man next to her, there was a terrifying aura that emanated throughout the chamber. Maru was overwhelmed, she didn’t know what to do.
 
But Nozomi had already decided far ahead for her, addressing her son “I’m sorry Atlas, I do not see what usefulness this girl can provide to the family. Even though I asked nothing of you directly as you were a child, you were still able to give something… it would be unfair if I allowed her to stay.” She returned her gaze to Maru, “I’m deeply sorry child, the most I can provide for you is to return you to your mother… or the orphanage in the city, though I can hardly ask someone as young as you to decide your own fate.”
 
Maru could only stare at her, Atlas had promised she would be safe here- that she’d have a better mom than her real one. Not knowing what to do and just wanting the voices in her head to stop, she dropped to her knees and reached into her sleeve, pulling the hidden object within it out and into the air in offering.
 
The chamber stood silent for a hellishly long dozen of seconds. Maru dared not to look up, just holding out the watch, just barely noticing Atlas’ shocked movements to her side, shifting from one foot to the other as if he were about to take off running.
 
Finally the silence was broken by a loud, booming laugh. Coming from Lady Nozomi herself.
 
Maru slowly looked up and to the laughing woman, both Atlas at Maru’s side and her brother above looking confused and shocked.
 
“Well,” Nozomi finally said once the laughter had died down, “Isn’t this one crafty as a fox? Had you kept that hidden the entire trip here, little one?”
 
“Y-Yes miss.” Maru finally said, she still held the watch up, but now she got up from her knees and stumbled forward, onto the platform, and just before Lady Nozomi. She presented it forward again, to which Nozomi took it gently out of her hands.
 
“It is not very often that I rethink my opinion of people. But I see now that I have missed a crucial trait in you, people older than you do not have the skill to hide their true potential.” She looked at Maru and smiled, it reminded Maru of the fangs of a wolf.
 
“I do not usually make such rash decisions but I believe I speak for both my sons and me that I have clearly underestimated just what you can provide.” She suddenly made a move to stand from her kneeling position and stood, towering over Maru and placing a hand on her head, “Since you have so gracefully brought me this gift and have won the recommendation of one of my sons… I welcome you to the family, Nonya Maru.”
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There is a painting in Maru's room in the Nonya Estate. It is a fox, sitting upright and tall. In its teeth, a golden watch, hanging by a chain.