Bell - Last time on Green Maiden

Tar - *slow heavy metal music plays softly*

BC- Stop that.

Butch - Honey, I'm home!

BC- You stop that too.

And now back to Green Maiden!

The Fox and the Maiden

The storm clouds upon the horizon were rolling in, far before the sun would rise. She stood on the balcony, eyes trained on the crescent moon as it became more and more hidden.

A servant hurried into the room, dipping their head low as she stood there, ignoring their presence. Finally, she spoke. "Any news?"

"The girl lives. Her injuries are almost fully healed and Lord Butch plans to resume the wedding preparations soon. He has decreed that the wedding will take place two weeks from today." The girl hissed, her fox ears twitching in irritation as her tails stilled.

"That fool... he still presumes to marry humans when I am his match, his true mate. And how did she, a human, survive a basilisk?" The servant responded promptly.

"My apologies, my lady, but it seems that not even she knows why. My fellow servants and I are trying to discover the reason for this." She huffed and whipped out her fan, covering her mouth.

"...He's an idiot...doesn't he understand that humans always leave?"

"You're not serious!" He couldn't be serious. Butch could not be serious right now! Buttercup stared at this absolute beauty.

The Dosanko horse was a beautiful grey, similar to that of a seal's coat, with a pale mane and a grey snout. His big, soulful eyes stared at Buttercup in curiosity as she fed him apple slices and oats. Butch stood far enough away that he wasn't threatening the horse, but close enough for her to hear him.

"Of course, I am. I've been planning his arrival for a year now. And he's all yours." Buttercup stroked the horse's snout as she squealed.

He was the most gorgeous horse she'd ever seen and a purebred! She had always wanted a Dosanko, ever since she was a little girl. The stallion's coat glimmered like a jewel despite the sun being hidden behind the storm clouds that morning.

The horse knickered, shaking his head around as it pushed for more treats. Buttercup giggled, "he's amazing." The horse apparently thought the same of her as it keep nuzzling its nose into her chest and hands, tail swishing contently.

Butch watched the joy on Buttercup's face as she played and bonded with her new pet. Before he would simply give his wives jewelry or clothes and they'd beam like children at a festival, but he found himself doing things much differently when it came to Buttercup.

He was falling farther and farther in love, desperate to appease his new bride.

He was feeling things he never felt with the others, like guilt over taking her from all she had known.

He still saw the sadness in her eyes when Buttercup looked at Black and was reminded of the quirky little cousin she told him of.

And he fell harder when she gave him a blinding smile that disarmed his soul of its guard.

So he did things like this.

Buttercup looked back at him as she hugged the horse's face to her chest, "you're spoiling me, aren't you?" Butch flashed her a fanged smile.

"Joji, I'd pluck the moon from the sky for you if it meant your happiness." Buttercup blinked and looked away, moving strand of hair from her face. Cute, Butch purred internally.

The horse idea was a stroke of genius.

A maid rushed up and said something quietly before pointing to the skies. Butch looked up and nodded before looking to Buttercup. "We need to go run some errands. I...I want you to come... there are some decisions we need... need to make together."

Buttercup's smile faltered and she turned her attention back to her new horse, who sensed his new mistress' unease and grumbled with his ears flicking back.

Butch had announced at breakfast that the wedding preparations would begin again today and that the wedding date would be the week after next. Unlike last time, Buttercup didn't scream bloody murder and demand he cancel it. She wasn't happy about it, though.

For a short time, Buttercup had forgotten why he had brought her here in the first place: to marry him.

She had surrounded her thoughts in Black's silliness, Tar's mischievousness, and Butch's goofy ego to help her forget what brought her here. But now the wedding was back in full swing and soon she'd be forever tied to them.

Never to see her home or family again.

God, it had been a month since she'd seen them. Lily must've grown by now. Rose may be engaged. Was her uncle okay? He never did well in the winters and the air was rapidly getting cold these days.

Butch watched as her mood worsened, wishing for a way to make her excited to be his wife. Why didn't I court her? God, I'm an idiot. If he had courted her, things would be easier.

Sure, it would take longer but she'd be happier.

Butch took a step closer, but the horses snapped its head towards him and shrieked, backing up. Its eyes widened with fear as the apex predator in human skin stood just a step closer. Butch quickly stepped back as Buttercup went to the horse, cooing and easing the creature. "Easy, Ishinoko, easy."

"Ishinoko? Sounds kind of girly for a stallion."

"Well, he's mine, so I get to name him."

"Fine, fine. Ishinoko it is then." The horse calmed and Buttercup happy again, the two made their way to the stables to put Ishinoko away and start on their way to the village.

Black was not allowed to come this time. Black didn't particularly care for this if the loud, incessant wailing was any indication. Unfortunately, Buttercup was unable to convince Butch to bring her as she had been immediately escorted to the zagyoshiki* awaiting them. She removed her sword and sat it across her lap while she waited for him.

"Just stay here and finish your studies! We'll be back by dinner."

"No faaaaaaaaair!"

"Nyaaaaaaarowwwww!"

Butch rolled his eyes and slammed the door, walking over to the carriage. Buttercup smirked at him, "so...how did it go?"

"Ha ha ha, very funny." Butch got in and signaled for the driver to start the horses. Their hooved feet began to pull the zagyoshiki along the pathway and soon, they were on their way. Meanwhile, Butch busied himself by filling Buttercup in on what they would be doing. "Some of my servants will meet us there, but I have to go and finalize everything at the temple with the priest. You need to have your fitting," Butch shuddered, "the dress is different from what I originally ordered. Bell demanded I use a more...fashionable kimono instead." Buttercup smirked.

Bell must have roared in his ear until he agreed.

"What, Butch? Don't tell me you're afraid of Bell, she's so sweet."

"She has you fooled then," he teased back. "How Blare deals with such a girl is beyond me. She's so different from her sister."

"Sister?" Buttercup didn't know Bell had a sister. Then again, she didn't get to spend too much time with Bell.

Butch blinked and groaned, slapping his hand to his face, "my big mouth...well, there's no getting around it. Blare was married to Bell's sister, Beau, before he married Bell. For a few years, they were both his wives."

"What?" Buttercup couldn't believe Blare had two wives at the same time. And they were sisters. She had heard of that type of thing happening in nobility, but...then again, Blare could be considered nobility. He was the Dragon Prince of the East after all. "So, does this mean I have to meet Beau later or...?"

"She's dead." Butch's voice was so plain, so bored, that it was as if he was talking about the weather. Buttercup stared at him, surprised. He shrugged, "you forget, Joji, that you're in the company of dragons. Death is as common as rice to us. I don't know the particulars, but I do know that Bell killed her."

"Her own sister?!"

"Who was not a saint. They had a pretty bad relationship by the end of it."

"You act like you don't care that your friend murdered her sister!"

"Again, I don't have the whole story. The only ones who know what happened are Bell, Blare, and Beau."

"But...didn't anyone do something?" Butch shook his head.

"Dragons and humans differ in many ways. In some things, such as mates, we are far more competitive. While dragons with multiple mates are not unheard of, they are rare as they often end in bloodshed." Butch sighed. He didn't like this conversation.

Butch had, had one rule throughout his life. He never had more than one lover at a time. Every dragon (or man) who loved more than one mate ended up in throes of emotional agony and pain.

His forest green eyes narrowed as he remembered that bitterly cold day, years ago.

Bell standing above her sister's bloodied corpse...

Eyes soulless, but still full of...

"-utch...? Butch!" He jumped and looked at her, as if in a daze. "Are...are you okay...?"

"...Yes...sorry, I got lost in thought...you were saying something...?" Buttercup stared into his eyes.

"...What would make Bell hate her sister so much that she'd kill her?"

She saw something, a flicker of both pain and understanding. Butch looked away. "...Bell loved her sister more than anything..." The carriage slowed to a halt.

Neither had noticed that they had reached the village, Tamakaze No Mura. Buttercup tore her eyes from Butch and looked at the bustling village.

Houses and merchants littered the space with their wares and people. Children ran about with smiles and laughter in warm, thick kimonos. Women huddled around the village square, gossiping and trading treats with giggling friends. Men heckled and joked with their merchants and sons.

Butch smiled and gestured out, "this is Tamakaze No Mura, one of the villages I rule over." Butch grinned as people bowed and called out greetings to him. "The shrine is a little farther out, but I'm dropping you off here so you can get your kimono fitted." Buttercup got out with him behind her. Butch led her farther down the pathway, the dirt had been packed down by the thousands of footsteps taken on it day by day.

The trees were quickly becoming barren, an obvious sign of winter's fast approach. The grass was beginning to grow stiff beneath their feet.

Buttercup held onto his arm as he walked, smiling down at her. She looked up at him. "The maids will be there to help you, I'll be back in a few hours." With a simple kiss to her forehead, Buttercup was left standing in front of the tailor's shop with her mind abuzz.

Butch said Bell killed her sister, even though she loved her. Why?

And why did Butch look like he understood her actions?

She watched with burning eyes, from the dying trees, her ears twitched with rage as she watched him fawn over this scrawny piece of human flesh.

The idiot.

The fool.

The callous fiend.

How could he keep doing this to her? Why must he persist in denying their destiny together? Why does he refuse to bind with her and, thus, unite their worlds?

As Butch left that maggot, she glared at him and then his so called bride.

Well, kitsune are known tricksters, she mused. So I shall do as kitsune do and trick.

"No. You can't make me!"

"My lady, please."

"I'd rather die."

"My lady, the kimono is gorgeous."

"I take back everything nice I've said about Bell, she's the devil."

"Lady Buttercup," one of the older maids said firmly, "you must put the kimono on." They had been at this for an hour already. Buttercup adamantly refused to wear the kimono.

It was a gorgeous shiromuku* that shone like the moon on a clear night. The design was reminiscent of cranes taking flight, sewed in off white. It was made purely of silk, with a silver silver obi belt with a matching obi. Green colored silk lined the skirt, sleeves, and neckline. The sleeves were also cut a bit shorter. It was commissioned and sent by Bell, as she had thrown a tantrum over the "ungodly, trashy, out if season travesty" Butch had chosen.

But, Buttercup refused to wear it. It was so...so...girly and delicate looking. She'd look weird in it. Plus, they weren't going to let her have her sword unless she wore the stupid thing, so no.

"My lady, please," one of them whined. The tailor looked exasperated. "His lordship will be back in two hours."

"Good, I'll be ready to go then." Buttercup soon found herself seized and surrounded. Though she fought valiently, the wedding garment eventually clothed her and she was forced to stand still as the tailor tucked and marked places to take in and loosen. The maids chattered about different kanzashis* and obi belts.

Buttercup wanted to scream in frustration. She didn't even really want to...get married...

Even if her groom has a really cute smile and is kind of funny when he's not being a perverted jerk.

And so what if it's...kind of endearing how much he dotes on Black and even Tar...and her...

And so what if it's cute when he crinkles his nose when he eats something he doesn't like or when he snorts when he doesn't believe something or that he gets all competative over simple games like Tic Tac Toe?

And...it means nothing to her if every emotion he feels is shown in those deep, jade green eyes that...sometimes look forest green in moonlight or brighten when he laughs or-

Dear GOD, WHAT AM I DOING?! Buttercup's face erupted in red as she realized that she was visualizing Butch laughing and smiling the way he does when Black jumps and hugs him. Stop this! It's not like I...

Did she though? Butch was, very quickly, fueling feelings and thoughts in her that she never felt with any other man. And, it wasn't like Buttercup hadn't met other handsome men.

Some had even expressed interest in her.

So what made Butch so different? Besides being a dragon, he seemed a lot like any other man. Self assured, brash, and somewhat arrogant with a goofy grin and a softy when it came to kids and who refused to drink milk even though it was good for him like an overgrown child and-

"AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHH!"

"MY LADY!?"

"GET THIS STUPID THING OFF ME! IT'S CAUSING ME TO LOSE MY MIND!"

Finally, Buttercup escaped and was able to breathe. That accursed shiromuku was left in the tailor's workshop so that he could trim and cut and do whatever it was tailor's did. Buttercup had no clue, but she assumed there was a lot to go into it, especially since the one wearing it would be the shogun's new bride.

"All my life, I thought I'd be a warrior," Buttercup sighed, glumly, as she meandered through the village. She watched the leaves on the ground rustle in the on the ground, "not a lady."

"One who was not meant to be one," a voice purred from behind, right in her ear. Instinctually, Buttercup spun around and gripped the hilt of her sword. She came face to face with a girl who looked strikingly similar to her.

Her green eyes mockingly laughed at Buttercup as she inspected her. Her hair was done up in a traditional hairdo with a jade kanzashi secured to the side. Her eyes were expertly colored with kohl liner and her lips were deep, cherry red. Her kimono was also pristine and made up of silk.

She kept her fan in front of her face as she raised a condescending eyebrow at Buttercup. "You...you shouldn't startle me like that. I almost took off your head."

"It would take much more than some human whore's blade to behead me," the girl spat. Buttercup glared.

"Who are you calling a whore?"

"The girl who stole my fiancé, of course." Buttercup felt like she gad been doused with cold water.

Stole her fiancé?

Did she mean...

"Butch?"

"Who else?" The girl walked around Buttercup, circling her. The fan, safely tucked in her obi, hummed as if near the North Tower. Buttercup blinked and suddenly the girl had changed.

No longer a normal human girl, she now sported fox ears and two fox tails, while eery green will-o-whisps followed behind like obediant dogs. Buttercup stumbled back, shocked. "A kitsune?"

The girl glared and growled, sharp fangs showcasing, "how did you see through my illusion, human? And keep your voice down, idiot," the girl walked up to her with a wicked smirk.

"You...Butch never said anything about having a fianceé before me...he had wives, but they're all-"

"Dead." The girl laughed, "all of them. Twelve, in fact." Buttercup stared.

"...What?" The kitsune scoffed.

"Don't tell me you never once spared a thought to the women who were here before you." She laughed, "humans! So small minded, it still astounds me why Butch is so taken with your species. You should all die, really."

"Shut...shut up."

"In fact, all of them died, each death more amusing then the last. Some killed themselves, driven to madness by Black's tricks and Tar's existance. You know that she eats corpses, right?"

Buttercup felt sick.

"Butch got her as a gift for Black, a playmate, but she really attracts all the bad miasma in his palace. Other wives were killed by their familes and friends, dishonored for leaving their husband. Each death was amusing, really. Though the last one? What was that one's name again?"

The kitsune stopped and thought as Buttercup stared in horror, bile rising in her throat as illusions of women dying and screaming began to manifest in the air. People walked by as if they saw nothing, some even walked through the illusions. "Ah, right! Reina. She was the most entertaining. They all deserved to die, don't get me wrong. You human women are standing between Butch and I. But, Reina was a cut above the rest. She was such filth that-" Buttercup stopped breathing as she listened to her words - "Butch killed her himself. She wouldn't love him, so he killed her."

The girl laughed as the illusions faded away, smirking down at Buttercup, "I should kill you myself, but I won't. After all, Butch's marriages never last very long. In due time, you'll be dead."

"Shut up!"

"After all, humans are so weak and unimportant, it won't be long before you're a bad memory. Maybe you'll even end up like Reina."

"You're lying! Butch would never-"

"You forget, Joji, that you're in the company of dragons. Death is as common as rice to us..."

"Dragons and humans differ in many ways..."

"He sounded like he was dying... And he kept asking... Why didn't she love me...?"

"He...he..." Butch killed his last wife? Someone he vowed to protect. Black's description of Reina came to her, but she still couldn't imagine someone killing their wife. The kitsune chuckled.

"You remind me a lot of her, actually. Spirited, boyish...I wonder how long you'll last before Butch decides he's done with you." The kitsune began to walk past Buttercup, "maybe with your death, he'll come to his senses and marry me already."

Buttercup didn't move, frozen. She didn't want to think that Butch would be so...so...coldhearted.

Would he really kill someone for not loving him? Were all of his wives fated to die? Did he force them to kill themselves? Did he force them to leave, knowing they would dishonor their families and be killed?

Sinking to the ground, Buttercup never felt such a strong, almost painful, urge to cry. She didn't want to think of Butch, who was honestly sweet and funny and smart, could also be a cruel husband who punished his wives with death. Butch, who performed puppet shows for her and told her goofy stories of his youth, couldn't be a merciless killer.

He was a perverted goofball, who played with small children at festivals and chatted about everything with her at meal times and couldn't win a single game of Tic Tac Toe and argued with a little sister who he adored to bits and...and...

"...ji...? Buttercup!" Vuttercup blinked. A crowd was around her, worriedly staring as Butch, the shogun, kneeled in front of this strange girl. Butch stared at het, worried. He had come to fetch her from the tailor and, instead, found her on a dirt road, sitting on the ground with tears streaming down her face.

She looked unharmed and he didn't smell blood, so what had happened to have his beautiful, strong willed warrior of a bride sit on the ground and cry like a broken hearted widow?

She stared at him with a look he hadn't seen directed at him before.

Fear.

"Buttercup, are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt?" He searched for any injuries he may have missed, he even checked her scars.

Nothing.

But he did suddenly catch a whiff of someone he knew. "Buttercup, what happened?"

She finally whispered out, "...I don't know..." Butch stared at her for a long time before turning and commanding everyone to leave. The maids he had sent there before them all huddled around Buttercup as they fussed over her. Butch helped her up as he began to lead them all to his zagyoshiki.

The ride was quiet, with a tense feeling that he hadn't felt since she first arrived. Butch hated it. He also hated the fact that Brute was in his territory and that he had no clue why. Ugh, Butch thought tiredly, let this day be over soon, it was. The two were home and Buttercup retired early, with no appetite and no strength to deal with Black.

And the next morning, she was missing.

Uh oh, that's not good. But what is good is that we will be seeing the Reds in the nenext chapter and we'll also get some stories.

BC- Okay, so last time I went out on my own, I got gutted by something that looked like the love child between a zombie and Godzilla. Am I gonna almost die again?

No. But, now that you're here, the definitions?

BC- Right. A zagyoshiki is a type of Imperial Japanese carriage, used mainly for state events. Butch is just being extra by making us use it.

Butch - *in the distance* I PAID FOR THE CARRIAGE, I GET TO USE THE CARRIAGE!

BC- Prima donna. Anyways, a shiromuku is a traditional type of Japanese weddkng dress. It is an all white kimono that was really popular to wear back in the day for weddings, funerals, etc. And a kanzashi is a hair ornament that most commonly looks like an ornate comb or pin, but some can ve incredibly elaborate. Also Tamakaze No Mura means Village of the Wind or something.

I honestly forget. Anywho, enjoy.

Boomer - (suddenly appears)

Ack! Where did you come from!?

Boomer- I took ninja lessons from Blare.

Blare-(appears)

Ack! I'm not even gonna ask...

Boomer- Next time on Green Maiden, Butch freaks out, Buttercup is freaking out, and Blossom is literally in this for the lulz.