Loki bowed before his former mistress, his head sweating and his fists clenched in anger. Karen was grinning before him as the the rest of the nobles were shocked by the sudden revelation. "Of course it would just be the thing that a Yōkai like you would do".

One man stood up immediately, beside him sat a white haired woman with an odd curl, his eyes were filled with blind rage, and his long white beard standing on edge. "Not only do you let former servant into your ranks, but also Yōkai*, how are we to trust you" he said loudly, his voice booming, and chatter beginning amongst the nobles.

Mystogan hit the floor with his spear, making a loud sound, and distracting the rest of the nobles, "SILENCE" he said, his voice booming louder than any of the nobles. He sent Loki a silencing look, and the samurai sat back, "Loki has misinformed us of his status of freedom, for that he will be punished, as for him being a Yōkai, he will not be judged for that, as he has served our squad well for many years. So for that we will not judge him, nor will we punishment, regardless of what we will do to him, you are to join us to the eastern castle, if you want to live" his voice was loud and booming, the true essense of a leader. As he finished the piped down and relaxed. "Good, tomorrow we will leave, get your things ready, we leave at dawn" and with that he turned, bringing Natsu with him. He looked at Loki, who stayed until Karen walked over to him, and he followed.

Karen brought her former servant to her quarters, he looked around the room, he had forgotten how the nobles had rooms just as 5 living quaters of the Samurai. She sat down on a large chair, beside her sat another servant, a Yōkai with long pink hair and ram horns, her face was a smooth color of light pink, and her face seemed to be sobbing. The moment he walked in she drew back, as if she was afraid of him.

"I can see that you still keep Yōkai" he said angrily. The girl drew back more, gently shacking in fear.

"Introduce yourself Aries" Karen said, placing her hand on a small whip that lay by the side of the nearby table.

Immediately after the girl, who Loki found out was named Aries, bowed gently, "H-hello there, my name is Aries, pleased to meet you".

Loki walked over and crouched beside her, "Hello there, my name is Loki" he said smiling, and she flinched as he began looking at her face, he saw how she had a large scar under her chin. "I see that still treat your Yōkai the same way" he said angrily and turned against her. Immediately after Aries stuttered back, frightened of the man.

Karen laughed, "You are mere spirits that have pledged to me, you are my property, now sit" she commanded, and Loki was forced to obey. She walked over with her short whip in hand, "You left despite my command, you understand why I can't have you going around now that I found you once more" she said placing her whip on his head. "You could warn other Yōkai, and tell them how to leave their master, and we can't have that, can we now" she said lifting the whip and striking his back, not even causing him to flinch. She whipped him again, as Aries watched in horror, sad for the Yōkai who had treated her nicely.

"WHY DID YOU LET HER TAKE LOKI" Natsu said roaring at Mystogan.

Mystogan sighed and sat down, "Relax Natsu, we won't let her keep him".

"But she said that he left under her rule, he basically belongs to her" Natsu was furious and sat down.

Mystogan sent him a mean glare that shut him up, "Loki is one of our best samurai, our lord will not let him slip away that easily, Yōkai or not, once you are a samurai in the clan, you stay a samurai, until death takes you away" his voice was serious and monotone, this was the voice that made anyone shut up.

"Alright, let's just hope that Loki will be fine, some Yōkai keepers have been known to treat their servants worse than slaves" Natsu said with legitimate worry for his close friend. "I'll go see how Lisanna is doing" he said leaving.

"You two have grown quite close it seems" Mystogan said smirking under his hood, to which Natsu merely shrugged.

Lisanna and Elfman walked into the infirmary, it was a white room, the facilities were bigger than in the eastern castle, yet no way near as advanced. He father lay on a small mat in the corner of the room, sleeping with a window wide open to his right. Once in a while he let out a small grunt in his sleep. Lisanna and Elfman sat down beside him, looking at the spot where his right arm had once been.

"He looks at peace" Lisanna said, her voice sobbing slightly, "Maybe we shouldn't have come, he might feel that his honor was hurt" she said saddened.

Elfman shook his head and placed his head on her shoulder, "His honor might be hurt, but at least our hearts will be at rest, and that may relinquish his anger for his broken honor".

She nodded gently, she looked at his father once more, he was a large man, almost as big as Elfman, he had a large white beard and short white hair, his fae was riddled with scars that he had gotten in his many years of warfare. While he could look large, brooding and cruel when he was awake, however when he slept he looked calm and sweet, like a large dog that had been fed and put to sleep. She wept gently, maybe if she had been there, she could have helped him. Suddenly a doctor pushed them away, as their father had to be checked, the bandage was removed and revealed a severely infected wound, to which Lisanna and Elfman left without flinching.

Natsu was waiting for them outside the door, "How is he doing" he asked the siblings with an honest voice.

They both sighed, "He may survive, but it can take some time, and they need to keep an eye on him at all times" Elfman said with a strong voice. Lisanna turned her head, she found the situation hard to comprehend.

Natsu slumped against the wall and Lisanna soon followed, hiding her head in her knees, as Elfman left to get ready for the leave the following morning.

There was a long silence between them. "Where are your parents" Lisanna eventually asked, remembering that she had never met them.

Natus groaned as he leaned his head back, "Never met them, I can't remember anything from since I was 7 years".

"Really" she said, suddenly interested, "So that's why you had a hard time remembering me".

Natsu nodded, he was feeling kind of bad talking about himself when she was in this situation. But as it went on they continued to talk, and they forgot their worries, if but for a short hour.

Karen finished the whipping and left to eat, Loki was panting, his back was filled with large red cuts from the sharp whip. "Treat his wounds Aries, but only barely, I will punish him further later" she said sliding the door behind her.

The ram nodded gently, bowing before the sadistic woman left. She pulled off his coat, seeing the immense wounds and was shocked.

"Why did you tell her your true name*" Loki said panting, his face gritting in pain from the scars coming into contact with the warm air.

"W-what" she stuttered quietly, flinching at his sudden reaction.

Loki gently attempted to turn his head, "You heard me, why did you tell her your name" he was interested in how Karen could have gotten another Yōkai servant.

The Yōkai gulped as she placed a soak cloth on his back, and he gritted his teeth, "S-she bought the home of my family, and promised that she would give it back to us if I served her family until the day I die" she said speaking sadly.

He turned his head once more, "So she is still blackmailing us" he sighed, "I guess I expected nothing more of the wh..." his mouth became tied together, as he could not insult his master.

"If I-I may ask" she said as she gently wiped some of his blood away, "How did she learn your name".

Loki was surprised by her sudden forwardness, "That is a long tale, and you probably don't want to hear it now, it is quite sad" he said sighing gently, knowing his tale was one of deceit, hate and death.

They sat in silence for minutes, the only noise that could be heard was was a small fly in the sky, "Well, we have plenty of time" she said interested.

Loki sent her a look, and sighed gently. "If it will set your mind at ease, then I will tell you my tale" he said and began his story.

"My family is a proud race of Shisa* that guarded a large shrine to the north of here. Life was good, plenty of prey, plenty of offerings, and plenty of attention. However there was one guest that stuck out amongst the others, a young woman who would always be rude and disrespectful to the shrine, once she even went with several of her lovers and destroyed the walls only to make love afterwards. However we could do nothing, as her family was among the many nobles that kept the shrine alive with their more than generous donations" Loki sighed and groaned as his wounds pulsated.

"And then you sold yourself to her in return for her leaving the shrine alone" Aries said, he voice suddenly becoming a slight more courageous.

Loki turned, surprised by the sudden burt of sound, "Yes, that's just about right, except she was the one that suggested the transaction. Life was of course not like in the shrine. because of Karen's rough behavior I would often have to fight thugs that she had insulted, or ex lovers that she had grown tired of, that is not to say that life was bad, in fact I was quite content with my standard, I was fed, had a nice place to sleep, and I had several women that constantly pet me. But then one day, it went to far".

He sighed and was about to continue, however he suddenly heard the noise of feet walking to the wooden floor, Karen slid the door open gently. She seemed to have just eaten, she looked at him and pulled a small bag out from her robe. She sent Aries a look and she scattered back.

"I see you're wounds have healed" she said smirking evilly, suddenly she kicked him onto the floor, she pulled a handful of white powder* from the bag, and threw it on his back. Instantly Loki felt immense pain onto his back, like someone had set fire onto it, he groaned loudly, but would not let himself submit. She gritted her teeth and threw more powder on his back. Then she turned and pulled off her robe. "I will sleep now, treat his wounds Aries, tomorrow we will leave, and you will need to walk". Loki gritted his teeth in pain, as a single tear fell from his face, he would not submit, though it hurt like hell.

TBC

Yeah, yeah I couldn't make it, sorry I'm just really busy since my classes start soon, so with no further ado I'll just get to answering those reviews:

XxShyxX: Really great, I really think I managed to capture his airheadness.

Fire girl 108: Alright I'll just go and check it, thank you for the compliments, and now DANCE TIME

Maiden Warrior: I can't help it my soul and mind have been contaminated and twisted by seizure enduing asian cartoons

Casey10rock: I am glad, GIMME A HUG =D

NaTsu Lisanna: Uhh yeah, I made that up, fight scene, hmm there will be in the next chapter now =D

With that said time for some explanations:

Yōkai: A japanese spirit that often live alongside or around humans. A Yōkai can be anything from a a broken lantern possessed by a spirit, to a huge demon with a club, aka an Oni. A Yōkai can also reside in shrines and alongside the shinto priests, in return for something. Some animals like the Tanuki are also regarded as Yōkai in ancient Japanese lore.

Tell her your true name: In old japanese, and chinese, beliefs, all creatures have a true name other than the one they received when they were born. If one knows a living creatures true name, that creature must subordinate itself to him or her.

Shisha: A guardian dog/lion hybrid of a temple or shrine in japan. They are not to be confused with the temple lions in China, as they are completely different both in belief and in how they should be made.

White Powder: If you did not guess this than it is salt.

Good bye, short chapter, but whatever.