Katashi's grin widened sickeningly as the final contract fluttered back towards her. "Such lovely names," she crooned, stroking the signatures gently. Her eye narrowed to slits as she regarded Yoru, who stared back at Lady Katashi dully. There was a pause, and Katashi swiped her hand once more; each name from the contract floated into the air, shining bright and golden. 

Each name began to lose some letters. These letters floated serenely into Lady Katashi's wrinkled palm, leaving behind remnants of their names, the lost fragments in the Third Witch's grasp. MORGAN KIPPLE changed into MOKA, BLAKE HAWTHORNE changed into MAKOTO, MAE TOUSSAINT changed into MATO, TORI SKYE changed into TOMO and finally, DANIEL AMERA suffered the largest loss of name, losing his entire first name to be left with only the smallest piece - AME.

These new names soared through the air until the hit their respective owners straight in the forehead, sinking in. Yoru, for once, displayed an emotion; surprise. He turned to look at Katashi in shock - "My Lady, you can't...!" he started, only to be silenced when Katashi turned her glare onto Yoru.

"I can't [i]what,[/i] Yoru?" she hissed, clenching her fist so that the remnants of the children's names shrank and fluttered out of the gaps between her fingers, onto a long sheet of paper hanging far away in a dusty corner of the office. It's difficult to make out from here, but there are many letters and short phrases - other people's names, with gaps where there should be small groups of letters. "No, go on. Tell me what I can't do." ordered Katashi cruelly, rounding on Yoru.

Yoru glanced back at the side-door, fearfully, knowing full well what lies just beyond it. "You can't....be so kind to them as to let them work right away, Katashi. Your generosity is unheard of." explained Yoru in a monotonous voice of resignation. Lady Katashi smirked a little, ignoring Master Yoru and returning her attention to the children.

"Well, there you have it. I was [i]lying[/i], as your kind seem to do so often. You do [i]not[/i] get to leave the Bathhouse. Yoru, take them down to Mai." exclaimed Katashi, rubbing her palms together. "Thank you for helping me, children...you're too kind! Ahaeheheheheheh!" she shrieked, ending in a loud and cruel cackle as the same tugging notion that the children felt on their midriffs dragged them all the way out, out into the elevator with a resounding crash. Yoru, it seems, was also being dragged, but paced quickly with the dragging to avoid the dignity of looking like an equal with a human. He was the last to enter the lift and, before the children could protest, he pulled on the lever.

"I didn't think-...." started Yoru, before silencing once more. He sounded like he was in pain. A short, swift movement freed Morgan- was it Morgan? The name 'Moka' seemed to stick out more than her original name now - from the spell that bound her lips together. After a while, Yoru turned around sharply.

This was not the Yoru that the children were used to. The cold hostility gave way to a concern, almost parental, in Yoru's reptilian features. His orders did not sound like orders anymore, but carried a tone of urgency - these were warnings, not orders. "Listen closely. What happened to you there, that was not what I was told of. This is Lady Katashi's Bath-house, and you'd do well to [i]consider what it is you say within it's walls[/i], understand? Because it is [i]Lady Katashi's[/i] Bath-house." he whispered, putting emphasis onto certain phrases in the hopes that the children would understand the implied meaning. "You'd also benefit from listening to Mai." he added wisely, before turning his back on the children, ignoring them.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal...a show.

A large throng of the women with the low-cut robes were waving their fans excitedly, whooping and cheering at a figure in the middle of the crowd. The frog-like men were hopping from foot to foot, laughing so hard that a few of them were rolling on the floor, tears streaming out of their eyes. They all stomped in time with whoever was in the middle, yelling out some form of chant, or song without notes. Yoru's commanding presence was not enough to silence the crowd, but a quick glance over their shoulders caused the mass of people to shuffle hastily to the side, revealing a long pathway cut through the hollering mass, and the figure revealed.

Said figure was one of the uniformed workers the children saw earlier, in the pink uniforms, that appeared to be cleaners. She was large, in the sense that she was tall and imposing, with more muscles than fat. She had wide-spaced eyes, and a flat, almost pig-like nose, with a wide mouth. She was also wearing a mop on her head, and shouting:

"[i]My name is Lady Ka-ta-shi,
They call me the Third Witch!
I'll work you all to hell and back,
'Cause really I'm a biii[/i]iii..."

The dancer trailed off, staring at Yoru in surprise, but only for a moment. She composed herself very quickly, her dance quickly turning into a twirl as she strutted down the isle, with the self-imposed importance of the woman who she was rather crudely pretending to be. "Yoru, [i]dahling[/i]!" crooned the woman in a mockery of Lady Katashi. She had literally no shame, it seems, and emitted a friendly kind of warmth and protection that was, until now, non-existent in the bathhouse. She was genuinely amusing without the grim humour of lady Katashi, held a power that was stronger than the cruelty of Yoru amongst the workers, for this woman was someone who they genuinely liked, not respected. This was shown by the fact that very few of them fled from the imminent disaster - it was unlikely this woman would be able to evade punishment after being caught in the act of blatantly mocking her superior.

Yoru glared at said woman, knocking the mop off her head to reveal long, auburn hair that is tied hastily behind her back in a loose ponytail, the fringe tied into a smaller ponytail just above to avoid getting in the way as she worked. "What is the meaning of this?!" he shouted, and the crowd twitched in a single, unified cringe away from Yoru.

"Could ask you the same thing, Yoru!" roared the woman in return - until now, she's the only person to have ever talked to Yoru as an equal. "Pay deductions are fine by me, but no breakfast before work! Now we gotta clean the tubs before we even get a meal? You know that isn't going to to work, right?! We're going to do a rubbish job just to get our food!"

Yoru leaned back a little, and for a while, it looked as if this mystery woman was winning. But suddenly, she recoiled backwards, staggering away from Yoru and looking up at him fearfully. Clearly, something had happened just then; but since the children were behind Yoru, it was impossible to make out what it was. "You'll get your breakfasts back, then." he snarled quietly, raising his voice to the crowd in general. "You'll ALL get your breakfasts back! But the price you have to pay, you'll wish you had no food at all. The humans, are now workers of the Bath-house!"

Yoru might as well had said that he was going to start beheading the workers, because it would've given a similar effect. There was an uproar of wails and groaning from everyone, including the mystery woman. A large circle of space appeared on the floor around the children as the workers regarded them like a disgusting mould, the women with the low-cut robes hiding their faces behind their fans and talking to one another, the pink uniformed ladies pulling faces and jeering at them, the frog-men staggering away from each of the children as if worried they'd get infected just by standing near them.

"And you, Mai, get to look after them!" snapped Yoru. The mystery woman stared at the children in horror. "And if I hear one complaint from any of you, I'll take you straight up to Lady Katashi before you can even apologise! NOW GET BACK TO WORK!" he roared, causing the workers to scurry away and start cleaning with renewed vigour. Now, only Yoru and Mai were left. "They're your problem, not mine." snarled Yoru, turning to walk away.

Mai glared at Yoru sulkily, then stared back at the children hopelessly. Now and again, a worker would rush past with a bucket or a platter full of food, since they were blocking the corridor. Mai didn't seem to mind, instead she sat down cross-legged on the floor so she was about eye-level with the children, looking at them as if they were strange new creatures. "...So, what're your names?" she asked carefully, trying to open a conversation.

Rather worryingly, their new names would overrule their old ones in response to this question, no matter how hard they try to speak of their original names. It's as if the new name has eaten the old one, and continues to be blurted out of their mouth whenever they try to introduce themselves.