Chapter 16

Therapy

A week from her arrival at the castle, Gabriel was already weakened. What she was given to eat was just enough to keep her alive. Her rebellion spurred Raden to beat her regularly, but Toko always did his best to heal her. She cried often and was constantly shivering. Even her wild rose-gold hair began to droop sadly. "Toko, why does he b-beat me? He keeps saying he loves me but he doesn't treat me like he does!" she sobbed miserably. The little demon awkwardly hugged her and dried her tears.

"Perhaps he didn't have a fun childhood. Brats like him always throw a fit when they don't get what they want." He rolled his eyes.

"I can't take much more, Toko." Toko smoothed out her hair, "Please don't cry anymore, Miss. It'll be okay. Good things come to those who wait, as they say."

"I hope so. This dungeon is very depressing."

"It could use some wallpaper and throw pillows, don't you think?" this made her laugh. "And some potpourri!" she chuckled.

"And new furniture with little flowers all over them; that just screams 'dungeon." His smile faded after a moment, "I have to leave now, I'll see you later."

"Good bye, Toko."

"Goodbye Miss." He waved as he went out the door. Toko sighed sadly as he walked down the castle halls; he felt helpless that Gabriel suffered while he could do nothing but heal her. Toko's gaze was on the floor, watching his feet when he rammed into someone. He rubbed his nose and looked up at whom he hit. Terror gripped him; it was his master, Raden. "M-my lord Raden!" he quickly bowed low, not daring to raise his head.

Raden raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Stand up boy, I won't punish you." Toko straightened up, quivering. "You are the boy who heals Gabriel, aren't you boy? What is your name?"

"T-Toko, my lord." He kept his eyes on the ground.

"I have noticed you are a very practiced healer, patients take half the time to heal as normal. Very good, I must say."

"Thank you, my lord."

"If you can heal others so quickly, why do you spend so much time with Gabriel? Are you having difficulty healing all of her wounds?"

"N-no sir, not at all."

"Then why do you spend so much excess time with her? What exactly do you do while you are with her? Because you know I will kill you myself if you are trying to take her from me." His eyes became menacingly dark.

"No, I could never! I- we just talk! We j-just talk for a while, m-my lord. She tells me she is lonely." The little demon cowered before the werewolf.

"Well, that's good to hear!" he laughed his evil but luscious laugh. : D—(drool) "I thought I was about to lose my finest healer! I could use you for another purpose as well." He said more to himself than Toko.

"My lord?"

"Come, sit, let us talk more comfortably." The werewolf motioned to a nearby bench. The little demon sat down nervously, lacing his fingers together. "Are you considered her…friend, Toko-boy?" Raden asked carefully.

"Well, yes, I guess so, sir."

"How close of a friend?"

"I suppose very close, I mean, I am the only person she sees other than yourself, my lord. May I be impertinent and ask why I am of importance to you?"

"You see," Raden began, "as much as I fantasize and practically worship her, she despises me with a passion." He laughed at himself. "I want to know more about what she likes, you know, what sort of things a girl wants. Perhaps I may even move her out of the dungeon and into a more …hospitable area. That's where you come in, if you can supply me with information."

"Wha… what kind of things do you wish to know?"

"Oh, simple things, her favorite color, what kind of room she had back home, why she hates me, the usual." He ticked things off on his fingers. "You wouldn't happen to know anything like that now, would you?"

"Well, sir, she does not like you because you…beat her, or so she tells me, my lord." He said quickly.

"I see…ningen women are so hard to please. Demon women know their place right away, but no… not ningens. Well, Toko-boy, I will speak to you again soon. Talk to her more and find out about the things I want to know. But if you tell anyone about our little chats," he leaned close enough to breath on Toko, "I will eat you alive at the next full moon." With that he stood up and walked casually away. Toko sat still as stone until his eyes began to dry out from being so wide. He shook his head and stood up to walk away but his legs failed him. A laundry maid walked past him with a basket full of sheets. "Are you alright, Toko? You look a bit pale." She asked, putting her load down and helping him up.

"Oh, I'm fine! Just fine! Thank you, though. Uh…I have to go now, goodbye!" he scampered away from the laundry maid; she gave him a bizarre look and continued on her way.

The past week had been hard on both Gabriel and her friends; she was losing her spirit and strength while they were losing hope and her trail. Whatever evil was inside Koronue and Youko had been pushed out of them. They no longer felt any need to steal and kill just for the fun of it. Secretly, Youko sort of liked the feeling of being good, having someone else to care for and not just himself. But such thoughts were too embarrassing to be kept anywhere but inside.

"How long do you think it will take to get to the castle?" Youko looked at the map questioningly.

"It depends if we stop to sleep and things like that."

"I don't need sleep!! Sleeping is for the weak!" the fox had dark circles under his eyes as he stood up proudly in a superman pose. "Onward!" he took a step forward only to find his face suddenly engaged to the ground. He looked up at Koronue who shook his head pityingly. "You haven't slept at all this past week, and you haven't eaten a lot either."

"So?" the fox whimpered and sat up. "That doesn't bother me!"

"Well, it bothers me! When you don't take the time to take care of yourself, I can't either. Besides, it's not healthy to not sleep or eat."

"But-"

"No buts, now look closely at this shiny thing I have here…"Koronue waved his pendant in front of Youko's nose, knowing he could not resist staring at shiny things. "Watch it closely; you need to sleep. Nooooooow sleep!!" Youko's eyes slowly slid shut and his head dropped to the ground. Koronue put his pendant away and hauled his partner to a safer location to sleep. He tucked him in like a little child and laid down a little ways away from him; finally, they slept.

It was night again when Youko woke up. He let his eyes adjust and basked in the sweet feeling of not knowing or caring where you are or what you are doing. The feeling faded away after a few minutes and he tried to piece together what happened. 'Hm, I was walking, then I fell down and I fell…asleep?' he looked around and found a small mound of fruit next to him. He took one instinctively, (and he was hungry) and sniffed it to make sure it was safe to eat. "Sleep well?" Koronue was suddenly bent over him. Youko jumped, "Don't do that! Hey, wait, aren't we supposed to be going to the castle?" he started to stand up but a pair of hands pushed him back down.

"Not yet, you have to eat first. You already slept enough, now eat something."

"I don't need to eat." He stood up and tried to walk but something jerked on his ankle. He looked down and saw a very heavy looking chain attached to his ankle and wrapped around a very big boulder. Koronue forced him to sit again, "You can either stay and eat and I will eventually let you go; you cannot break these chains by the way, or you will be forced to chew your own leg off." He said dramatically. Youko said 'hn' and bit into his fruit, glaring at Koronue who seemed not to notice. When his pile of fruit was gone, Youko held up his chained foot and pointed expectantly. Koronue released him, and then found his face in the grass. "Don't ever do that again! I can't stand being trapped like that."

"Take care of yourself so I won't have to."

"Overbearing oaf."

"Spoiled whelp."

"Lets go."

Two days had passed for Gabriel. Something didn't seem right about Toko; he asked a lot of questions about her. "I just like hearing you talk to me, no one else will." He said blushing. She was too frazzled to care whether or not he could be lying. She also noticed that Raden had not come to visit her at all the last two days.

"Why isn't Raden coming to see me any more? Is he planning something, do you think?" she asked him out front.

"Uh-how should I know? I'm just a healer; I haven't a clue. Nope. None." He shook his head repeatedly. He glanced at the window, examining the position of the sun, "oh my I'm afraid I have to leave again, Miss. See you tomorrow then?"

"I'll pencil you in between doing nothing and counting the air molecules." She chuckled and smiled wryly.

"Goodbye Miss."

"Later, Toko." She waved her fingers at him. He put on a fake smile until he was out the door. Sighing, he shook his head. He felt wretched, deceiving and using his only friend. He didn't feel much better when he reported their conversations to Raden. Toko felt unworthy to be her friend; she was too sweet and young to deserve that.

The next time Gabriel had received food, she was ravenously hungry and didn't stop to check for poisons like Youko had taught her to. She found herself very sleepy and went out like a light. She sensed, in her dream a pair of hands undoing the chains on her wrists and ankles, and carrying her for a while. Short jerks told her she was going upstairs. She fought to wake up but the potion in her food was very potent. At last she was placed on something very soft and warm, not at all like the stone table she had slept on night after night.

Gabriel slipped into a more restful state of sleep when she was finally left alone. But she was not completely alone, another still guarded her possessively, watching her every move and breath. When she finally woke up, Raden was sitting in a chair next to her bed. "My you sleep deep." He purred, stroking her hair. She cringed away from him and wriggled her wrists against imaginary bonds. The chains were gone!

Gabriel sat up and raised her hands. Clink! No, the chains were still there, just a little longer than before so she could move comfortably. Raden scooped her up and sat on the bed, "You aren't ready to be free just yet," he teased. She faced away from him, not daring to do or say anything for fear of being struck. He nuzzled her neck, "Are you feeling any better? I hope you like your new room." he asked. She pulled away and looked at him strangely. 'Since when does he care what I want?' he seemed to not notice her questioning eyes.

Raden had to control himself; he wanted to earn her trust and love, but she was soooo vulnerable and he just wanted to take her! She was bristling at his touch, she was still used to only pain from him. Very calmly, he stroked her hair, holding her waist firmly, but not too offensively. She eventually calmed enough to relax her breathing and her grip on the new, longer chains. "That's right, you're safe, safe with me." He cooed as her eyes drooped. Gabriel felt…safe. Her rebellious side said it was the potion having after affects, but she did not say or do anything. The moment was so good, and she didn't want to suffer for her pride. She felt guilty being in another man's arms; she loved Youko, but what could she do? Nothing…

Be strong Gabe-chan!!

plz r&r