Battler looked up from his book when his teammates returned, returning Heather's small smile. He thought the timing was a little odd: how Ijemaru left in such a hurry after the boat stopped, then came back shortly after it had been fixed with a somewhat guilty-looking Heather and Ebisu. They hadn't been the ones to break the engines, had they? Oh well. What did the cause matter if the problem was already fixed.<br/><br/>Heather and Ijemaru went straight to their rooms but Ebisu stopped in the main room. Battler looked up from his book again to see the Graecian staring at him. "Uh... what is it?" he asked awkwardly.<br/><br/>"No one ever told me your name," Ebisu confessed, rubbing the back of his head.<br/><br/>"O-oh," Battler said, surprised that's what it was. (He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting...) "It's Battler.. Uroshima."<br/><br/>"'Battler,' huh?" the Graecian asked, and he laughed a little. "That's a weird name."<br/><br/>"Yeah. I know," the boy laughed. "My aunt picked it... the crazy one."<br/><br/>"Huh. You must have a close family, if your parents let your aunt pick your name."<br/><br/>"They were pretty close," Battler agreed. "Especially for for a family as big as mine was."<br/><br/>Ebisu groaned and took a seat on the couch. "You're talking in past tense. Don't tell me it was--"<br/><br/>"Demons," Battler finished for him. "They didn't<span style="font-style: italic">all</span>die. Three of my cousins survived, and one of the servants who worked for my grandpa. I wasn't the only one tainted either, but George wanted to finish getting his degree in medicine before becoming a hunter, and Canon stayed behind to protect the island."<br/><br/>"So those two are your cousins?" Ebisu asked.<br/><br/>"Ah! No. George is my cousin, but Canon is the servant I mentioned."<br/><br/>Ebisu waited a moment before continuing. "Isn't 'servant' kind of derogatory?"<br/><br/>Battler wore one of those "it's complicated" looks before answering. "Canon and his sister were both orphans before my grandpa took them in. The politics surrounding our family--inheritance, property, all that stuff--complicated things, so he refused to adopt them... But he said he would make sure they were clothed, fed, and had a place to stay if they became servants to the family. The heads of my family have done that kind of thing for a long time. They have to give up their old lives as a promise to serve ours until they die. Canon isn't even his real name, but I don't know what is."<br/><br/>"That's... I don't know what that is. What do you think about it?"<br/><br/>Battler paused. "To be honest, I don't like it. I get why they get sucked into it in the first place. In Canon's situation, it was either starve on the streets or be a well-cared-for servant to a wealthy family. After pretty much everyone else died I tried to convince him to become his own person, but he refused. He said he was going to protect the island from other demons until one of us was ready to take their place as head of the family."<br/><br/>"Your family sounds kind of important," Ebisu said, leaning forward. "What's the history there?"<br/><br/>"You want to know?" Battler asked. The way he said it made it seem kind of ominous. The Graecian thought a minute before nodding. Battler smiled slightly and set his book down. "It's kind of a strange story, but I'll tell you."<br/><br/>------------------------<br/><br/>Ijemaru collapsed on his bed as soon as he was in his room. He didn't go to sleep just yet, though. Instead covered half his face with his hand and took several deep breaths. Heather and Ebisu had probably thought he was just kidding around a minute ago, but he was serious. He didn't know what kind of powers he was going to get, or if the unnatural strength would be all, but stage two always made killing an easier task. The best way to avoid it would be to avoid people, so after he'd pulled his covers up over him he fell asleep easily.