Scara mentally smiled at his question. Good, he thirsts for knowledge. He does not want to live in this world in ignorance but wishes to understand. She watched the flames dance off his face as she listened to the werewolves howl as they began their night rituals. She saw the eagerness in his eyes, even though he tried to hid it. Ha ha! Any easy way to keep him here. This shall work out well.

Smirking, Scara moved and sat down on a stone bench near the fire. You wish to learn about this world and not live in ignorance, very well. For each task you complete well you may ask a question. Thinking to herself With how bad he wants to learn this should help make sure he does well. Though if he does well enough I may not have to treat him as a servant but a friend.... Scara stopped herself, her upbringing causing her to question what she just thought. Could a demon and human be friends? What is a friend? Scara frowned slightly...used to being alone since she left her home.

Koji was glad to have the opportunity to ask a question But only one per well completed task...I'll have to use them wisely thinking as to what to ask Koji stared into the fire. So many questions flew through his head it was hard to choose two. Which he hoped 2 was how many he got. He'd heard no complaints about his two most completed tasks. I guess I'll start with the basics..

Looking back to madam he asks "What is this place called Madam?.. at my old home it's called Earth but what is it called here?" When he said the basics he really meant the basics. Thinking of a second question was hard. The questions were sure to come easier as he lived there and encountered things but he'd only been there for a few hours he guessed. Feeling the heat lick at the side of his face he eventually thought of a question though this one was harder for him to ask though he didn't show it "Can I ask madam to tell me one thing about herself?"

This place... Scara gestured all around her. Is known as the Netherworld, I think you humans had another name for it. She thought for a minute. Ah yes, I believe you called it Hell. Here all the demons and monster of your nightmares live, work, and play in their own fashions. Some of us live in houses mostly built of stone, like mine, as trees are a rare commodity given all the elements that get thrown around and it's sturdier. You'll also find some live in cave and the forest behind me. Another reason we don't use wood, some of the trees are sentient and no on really wants have to deal with that. Scara stretched her wings as she remembered the first time she had to deal with a ticked off tree, it was not an easy battle.

Staring up at the moon, Scara tried to decide if she should answer his second question or not. Hmmm...what if anything should I tell him. Well, why not? I don't have to tell him anything too personal. She turned her head to look at her newfound servant. As I'm sure you've guessed I'm a demon. I'm of a smaller Fire clan and while I appear to be in my 20's by your years I am in fact over 400 years old. Still young in our culture. Sighing she folded her wings back in as she thought briefly of how strange this all must be for the boy. Hmmm..I can't keep calling him "boy" or "servant" surely he must have a name. Looking him in the eyes Scara asked. Tell me, what is your name?

Koji listened intently to every word Madam said not wanting to make her repeat herself. so this is hell/the netherworld?..it seems so different.. Sure Koji had been expecting something that wasn't the traditional fire and brimstone. But here it was nice the lack of humans was a bit unnerving but it was nice here.I wouldn't mind living here on my own if i could again that thought slipped into his head and again it was very hard not to consider.

Koji continued to listen as Madam answered his question about her giving some basic information he expected though he didn't expect to be told her age. Most women he knew Age would be the last thing they would tell a guy, same thing with weight. The fire clan comment shot another question into his head that he had to hold his tounge to keep from speaking up. As she turned to him and asked Tell me, what is your name? he welcomed the chance to speak and get the question out of his mind "My name's Koji Madam, Koji Sera"

I see the look of confusion in your eyes and shall give you a little extra tidbit of information, since your manners have been so well. You might have noticed the lack of fire, brimstone, and tortured souls. Those exist, in another area. Much as your world is separated with cities, deserts, and ice. Ours is separated much the same, except for those torturous parts. I can show you them if you really must see them. She grinned then, the fire light glinting in her eyes. As for the lack of humans, they are either slaves for various means or they are food. Unless you are in one of the pits, then there's a whole bunch. She waved her hand nonchalantly as though it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Koji.. she thought Humans have such interesting names. Scara smirked as she saw him bite back another question. It seems this idea shall work after all. Now I just have to figure out where he shall rest for the night. It won't be too much longer before we must move indoors. The smell of a human is too much to resist for some of the nightstalkers... Looking up at the sky Scara looked for signs of the stalkers while thinking he'll have to stay in her "guest" room, though she'll have to do something to make it a little less ominous.

Glad to have that cleared up about the look of the netherworld he nods briefly before bowing and speaking"Thank you for the extra information Madam but I don't need to see the traditional human views of this world." Koji's mind thought back to what she said about what happens to humans usually around here feeling a hard lump form in his throat at the mention of becoming food. gratefull once again for being found by madam and turned into a slave and not a meal.

As Madam looked into the sky so did Koji admiring the night sky which was so similar too the one he remembered back home. The main difference was how many stars he could see here vs home. and he wondered if it was because he was in the netherworld or because of something else that the sky was so clear.

Scara laughed as he politely declined the "tour". I think I shall have fun with this one... Carefully scanning the sky she watched as a more of the stars started winking on and off. Come, it is time we went inside, the nightstalkers are near and I feel not like dealing with them. Standing she motioned at the fire with one hand and the flames instantly disappeared.

Heading inside she went to a hall storage closet and pulled out an extra blanket and pillow. Turning she waited for Koji to come back in and lock the door. We'll have to do something about that spare room tomorrow.

Koji smiled for a bit as Madam laughed, it was good to hear laughter. His smile dropped away as she mentioned nightstalkers and a need to go inside. He hadn't read about much night things in his book and he didn't feel like he wanted to learn about them tonite.

Following behind Madam as she "shut off" the fire once inside he closed the door behind him and set the lock. Turning around he noticed Madam carrying A blanket and pillow clearly meant for him"Madam, would you like me to take those?" he extended his arms to gesture to the pillow and blanket and to be able to take them right away.

Scara handed him the blanket and pillow. Tonight you shall sleep in the room you awoke to. Tomorrow we shall see about making it a bit more....hospitable. Turning Scara made sure the bar was still on the front door. She wasn't worried about anyone breaking in through the rear as she had a few traps set up in the trees versus anyone flying or walking through. Really all she had to worry about was the front door, and even then with the addition of the Were head and the Frenzy demon head, not too many wanted to scuffle with her anymore. Bidding her new servant goodnight Scara headed to her room and locked the door.

Nodding Koji replied bowing again "Ok Madam" noticing her glance to the front door drew his attention to the door as well. It seemed secure, which put Koji at ease a bit. As Madam bid him goodnight he bowed silently to her and watched her door hearing her lock it behind her, so he moved to his new room. With a few slivers of light from the moon shining in he was able to find his way to the bed. Stripping off his shirt he looked down to his chest where a bruise had begun to form. He knew it'd be massive tomorrow morning. climbing under his blanket and putting his head on the pillow he went over everything that'd happened that day looking to his chest as he came to the point in the day when he fell through the tree my whole abdomen will probably look like one massive black and blue bruise tomorrow... Shortly after that thought he fell asleep exausted from the day's events.

[[tired of being all black so i added some color! ^.^]]

Scara stood at her window and gazed up at the moon, watching the nightstalkers fight over some poor soul. What am I going to do with him? I can only keep this charade up for a little while. It won't be long until Lucifer sends his troops to search the houses. It'll look suspect if I've got a new servant right around the time he showed up. Contemplating different ideas, Scara changed for bed and laid down to rest.

~~~~~~~

Morning seemed to come quickly, the blood sun shone bright in the windows, the Sun demons could be heard praising the reappearance, and Scara awoke from a strange dream. Sitting up and shaking her head she cleared the last cobwebs of the dream away. Standing she stretched her wings and made her way to the master bathroom where she enjoyed a warm bath, scented with cloves. Mmm...I do love the smell of cloves. It's going to be a lot of work for Koji to clean that room. Wonder how well he'll do, though I will have to go out and get some.."paint" After finishing her bath and deciding on a color she could tolerate. Scara went to pick out what to wear for that day, it was then she realized that Koji would need clothes too. Shaking her head at the thought of everything that needed to be done she donned a red dress and left her room to see if he was up yet.

((Hooray for color! ^_^ ))

Koji's dreams were restless, filled with snippits of yesterday's events and events from earlier in his past, and Koji moving through them with no will of his own unable to choose which path to take. it wasn't a bad dream, but it wasn't great either...

*******

Koji woke up slowly as a ray of light hit his eyelid shattering any possibility of continuing to sleep.Sitting up slowly he groaned lightly as some muscles in his chest were used to get him up. Looking down to his chest there was a huge bruise almost spanning his entire chest, looking like a black and blue mess. As I thought... i am now one massive bruise. Not knowing whether Madam was up or not Koji busied himself with cleaning his room as much as he could. mainly sweeping everything on the floor that wasn't his into the fireplace of the room. Grabbing his shirt Koji sat back down on the bed carefully inspecting his bruise while he waited for some sign that Madam was up.

Scara left her room and looked around, not seeing any sign of Koji yet. Shrugging she went into the kitchen and began looking to see what she had to make for breakfast. Settling on some spike-chicken eggs, stone wheat toast and were bacon. Getting down some pans Scara begins cooking, humming an old song of her youth.

((sorry for short post, morning brain deadedness. XD ))

After sitting around a bit more Koji started to smell something wonderful cooking outside his door. Standing up he puts his shirt on. The front may be ripped open and raggedly displaying his hugely bruised chest but it was his only one he wasn't exactly sent here with a suitcase of clothing...

Opening his door and stepping outside with a large yawn and resisting the urge to stretch out long to save his chest the pain he looked over to the kitchen area. Koji noticed Madam in a nice red dress while making breakfast."Morning Madam.."

[[no problem..]]

Scara heard his door open and turned her head to see Koji emerging from his room. Smiling slightly she watched as he fought the urge to stretch. Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder if you made it through the night. Now be a good dear and set the table, breakfast is almost ready. Extinguishing the flame Scara took the pan off the burner and poured the scrambled eggs, which were blue, into a bowl and set them on the table next to the purple bacon.

After she placed the pan in the sink she noticed the large bruise on Koji's chest and the huge hole in his shirt. We'll definitely have to do something about that today. Can't have my "servant" looking like a whipping boy. She decided a trip into town would be in order. After grabbing a jug from the fridge she stood and watched him, to make sure he didn't break any of her dishes.

Smiling lightly back Koji moved to the cupboard "Yes Madam" as he looked for the plates he couldn't help but notice the colors of the food. He bit his tongue to keep from asking another question. As he was told yesterday he had to earn the right to ask questions. Finding the plates seemed easy and he went around the table carefully and quickly setting the table for breakfast

Before he finished he noticed Madam eyeing his chest and shirt. Koji felt kinda bad for how he looked but he also had to remind himself it couldn't be helped. Having the bruise would be fine if his shirt didn't have a gaping hole in the chest to display the wound, but he didn't have much in the name of personal possessions. When he was finished with the table he stood off to the side of the table to silently say he was done and to let Madam choose which seat she wanted.

Scara watched as he quickly and efficiently set the table, though she did laugh mentally as she saw him eying the food. It must be a different color where he comes from, though his reaction is amusing. She waited until he was done before she sat the juice container down and took a seat, gesturing at the other side of the table for him to do the same. Grabbing the serving spoon she quickly piled her plate with eggs, bacon and toast. Smearing some blood jam, so named because of the color, on her toast.

You set up the table quickly and didn't break any of my plate, you may ask another question. And as an added bonus, I'll tell you my name. It's Scarlett. She placed her napkin on her lap and poured some orange colored juice into her chalice. Nothing like a hearty breakfast to start your day off right.

Madam Scarlett..it fits her well Koji thought in admiration as he grabbed the chair gestured to for him to sit down to eat. Waiting till Scarlett had finished serving herself Koji served himself a little of everything from the table, minus the blood colored jam that was a bit too much for him. But before he dug in he bowed slightly in his chair"Madam Scarlett.. thank you for the extra information and the question opportunity...but I don't believe i will use my question yet"

He really wanted to ask about the foods color but that seemed like a waste of a question. Up close it all still looked the same as food from home, and since humans did exist here in the netherworld they had to be fed if they were slaves ...to be kept alive and useful. sitting up from his bow Koji digs into the food,he hadn't eaten dinner last night so the hearty breakfast was a welcome thing.

Scarlett watched as Koji served up a little bit of everything she had made. At least he's brave enough to try new foods. And he's not fool enough to waste his question asking about food. I'm glad the boy has some brains in his head. Chuckling softly to herself Scara began to eat, thankful she'd picked up groceries earlier yesterday.

While eating Scara contemplated how she was going to do things today. Looking at Koji and idea struck. Wait a minute, this will be easier than I thought. With his chest bruised and shirt torn he looks like he could be my slave. I think I've still got a piece of scrap leather.... She continued working out the details. Once she had them all set in her mind a gleam came into her eyes. She just hoped her distant cousin was still just that...distant.

The food was great, it had a whole different, almost richer flavor to it. It could have been because he was starving from last night but he couldn't tell at the time. despite it's off-putting color The bacon looking food was his favorite and so he saved what he had left of it for last. This food i could get used to if I'm stuck here

Finishing off his food quickly Koji wipes his face off before gathering everything he used together. Once his seating area looked good and clean he sat and waited to be excused from the table he was pretty sure he'd be doing the dishes but he wasn't going to act rude to Madam Scarlet and just stand up or leave the table, because he respected her, among some other, more relevant reasons...

Scara noticed that Koji had finished and was just sitting there after he'd cleaned his side of the table. She was momentarily confused at to what he was doing before it struck her. Ah, he's either waiting for permission to stand up or for me to leave. How polite. She smirked mentally before speaking to him. Please wash up the dishes and put the food away, there's a few things I need to gather before we head out to gather what we need. She wiped her face off and stood up. Taking one last drink of juice she headed for her bedroom.

Once she entered the room she made sure he was clearing the table before she closed the door. Heading over to a dresser she rummaged through it before she found what she was looking for. A strap of leather was laying in the bottom, removing it she went over to the small table she had in the corner. Grabbing a few more items she got to work sizing, cutting and afixing a clasp to the strap. Once all that was done she used her control of fire to heat up her fingernail which she moved over the leather in a highly stylized pattern. When she was satisfied with the way it looked Scara headed back out to see what Koji was up to.

Koji nodded "Yes madam.." and stood up to begin cleaning. First he found containers for the excess food so he could put it away in the fridge quickly. He wasn't sure how little or long the food could be left out before it started to go bad but he didn't want to take chances. With all the food away he gathered all the dishes into the sink and ran water over them rinsing what he could off before he started to scrub with soap. He turned the temperature on the water to full hot water as he actually began to scrub the dishes. It was a habit and a trick of his, the faster he scrubbed and cleaned the less time his hands had to spend in the scalding water. A few mistakes over the years has allowed him to build up a bit of a tolerance but that didn't mean he could go slowly with the dishes. After he'd finished scrubbing, drying, and putting the dishes away he wiped down the table to get rid of any traces of extra foods that might tempt an imp back to the house. He didn't need to be chasing those things around anytime soon...

Once he was done he double checked everything was clean. Satisfied with how he had done he took a moment to mentally pat himself on the back and lean against a wall for some rest, He wasn't going to sit down because she said they were going out today and if he sat he wouldn't be ready to follow as quickly. I wonder where we'll go? When she came back out to check up on him he got off the wall and stood gesturing to the kitchen and table for her approval.

Scara looked at the table and then nodded in approval. He cleaned up very well and I didn't have to tell him where things were. She walked over to where he was standing, the strap hanging from one hand. We're going out today, as I said, however since you're a human you can't just wander around without some identification. This won't be the most dignified for you however it's the only way you'll survive. Scara held up the strap and showed Koji the stylization she did to it. I'm going to have to put this around your neck. It will mark you as a slave on "loan" to me from a cousin of mine who lives in the mountains and doesn't come into town. It is acceptable for family to borrow slaves from another member if they do not own any themselves. We're going to leave your torn shirt the way it is. It would look odd if you had no bruising or it was covered. My family is not known for their "nicety" when it comes to dealing with slaves.

Stepping forward she carefully placed the leather around his neck and fastened it in the back. Standing this close she noticed he didn't stink like most humans she'd encountered did. Placing her hands on his shoulders she looked down and into his eyes. Now this is very important. When we're out you must follow just a bit behind me with your head down. You can look around with your eyes but don't lift your head up. You must only speak when spoken too and if you "misbehave" in anyway while we're out I will have to hurt you. Scara couldn't hide the fact she really didn't want to have to hurt him, which was odd for her as normally she didn't mind the idea of causing anyone pain. However if another demon or anyone messes with you do not be afraid to call out to me. Since you are my family's "property" no one else is allowed to touch you under penalty of death. Scara waited to make sure he understood this and would be able to do it.

Koji looked at the stylization of his 'collar' it was intricate and simple. As degrading as wearing the collar may be he liked the design and it was to keep him alive which was obviously another perk. He listened carefully to everything she said about his background and how to behave. he couldn't help but notice how it sounded like she did not want to have to hurt him.And with my massive bruise it wouldn't be to hard When she'd finished explaining he spoke up "Yes madam I understand...Keep my head down, do not speak unless spoken to, any misbehaving ends in punishment, and if anyone tries to mess with me, call out for you" He was glad he was allowed to look around with his eyes at least. He could still fuel his interest for the world although he had to be very careful about it. As much as he wanted wherever they were going to be crowded so he could see more monsters he also wanted there to be not as many monsters so less chance of troubles

Scara smiled softly as an idea struck her. Depending on how our outing goes, I will allow you more than the one question you've already earned for clearing the table. Which has you at two questions. If you need help make sure you call out "Mistress Scarlett", I want the demons to know just who they're about to deal with for messing with my property. Still standing close to him she burnt a flame symbol into the back of his shirt over his left shoulder, careful not to touch his skin. There, what I have done is made sure from a distance they know they are dealing with the fire clan, not too many are willing to risk their lives versus one of us.... Looking him over once more she approved of his look. While he was wearing shoes they were dirty and torn up as well. Grabbing her list she headed over to the door and removed the bar, stepping out into the light of the blood sun.