Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading, I'm co-writing this story with a friend of mine but she doesn't have an account on FF so I'll be posting our chapters here. Please review and let us know what you like or dislike about our story, we'd love to hear from you. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroshitsuji.
Chapter One: A New Mission
2013
Megumi Ichigo walked down the sidewalks of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan with music flowing into her ears. Her knee-length, chestnut brown hair and her black miniskirt swayed gently with her movement. Well, maybe "miniskirt" was the wrong word considering the fact that it didn't fit that way on her since she was shorter than most people. She was on her way to her "office" to pick up a mission – one that was only for a shinigami to complete.
The bespectacled brunette was only allowed to become a shinigami because she was seen to have potential. After her parents were murdered by a madman and her brother committed suicide, she had felt that there was no reason for her to continue living until Lucidum Borealis, the one that gave her assignments, accosted her with a job offering. "Come work for me. You have an ability that may be useful, despite the fact that you're human. Perhaps you'll be worth my time," he had said to her years ago, when she was about 10 years old. She easily agreed; there was nothing tying her to the world anymore and she was eager to have a purpose. As part of an initiation ceremony, Lucidum had touched her chest and pulled out a long, black scythe with a strange aura emanating from it. "This is your scythe. You will use it to destroy demons and the living dead who have extended their welcome on the earth. It will protect you as well but it is only as strong as your will to survive. Do you understand?" The young Megumi had simply nodded in reply to the cloaked man before taking the weapon into her hands and, from that day on, she worked secretly as a shinigami in Japan. It was only recently that she found her deceased brother, Sakujo, as one of the living dead. He was only spared her scythe because of their previous relationship and he was charged with the role of being her meat shield on her missions.
Megumi was brought out of her memories by the sound of a conductor's whistle and realized that she had yet to board her train. She quickly made her way to her seat and breathed out a sigh of relief at having made it on time. This train would take her to the prefecture where the shinigami office was. As it began moving, the scenery started rolling along by her like one of the conveyor belt settings that are depicted in old cartoons. Eventually she tired of staring out the window and closed her eyes as she contemplated the nature of her upcoming mission. The ones she had been given to date weren't exactly easy but she was still confident that she could fight anything. In that spirit, Megumi had no worry about the mission she would be given today. Even though she wasn't necessarily worried about the requirements of her upcoming mission, she was worried about the handful of friends she had managed to gain over the years. She was told in the short message she received the night before that her brother wouldn't be allowed to come along, so she was about worried about him being by himself for the duration of her mission. They were very rarely apart these days. Her secret admirer – well, secret to her brother, not to her – didn't know what she was or what she did as a profession, but that didn't stop him from worrying whenever she said that she had some "issues" to take care of. He just thought that they were emotional or mental issues stemming from her past that would lead her to harm herself. In reality, she was both emotionally and mentally stable. She just needed an excuse to not contact him for a while during her shinigami missions.
When the train arrived at the station, she got off and walked down the block to the office. As she entered, Lucidum – called Ruru by the girl – started walking with her. His face was covered by the red tips of his black hair as he stared down at a file in his hands. "We have a problem. We're getting demonic readings from England; however, there have been no demons in England since 1890. We don't really know why this is occurring, but we're sure that it isn't a false alarm. Over 100 humans have died in the past few weeks, all in that same area, and the shinigami in the human department have informed us that none of them still had their souls once they got there," he said as he looked up at her and handed her the file which showed the spread of the demonic readings as well as the killings on several different types of maps. He referred to himself as "we" since his hat, Goro, could speak and think for itself when it was awake. It seemed to be asleep at the moment. "That being said, trying to investigate whether demons are present or not in this time is kind of pointless. So, we're going to have to send you back in time to the middle of 1889. That should give you ample time to find out what happened to the demons and what might be causing these readings in our time." Megumi removed her earbuds and nodded, her face taking on a serious expression as she realized the magnitude of this mission and how important the intelligence she needed to gain would be.
Lucidum gravely walked into an empty room and waited for her to enter before bolting the door shut. "Now, just wait a few minutes for us to prepare the portal." While Lucidum conjured up his magic, Megumi continued to look over the file. Under the maps, it contained a report summarizing the information that the shinigami had on all the demons that had ever lived in England. There most recent showed an old photograph of a young boy that appeared to be fourteen years old with smoky blue hair and mysterious red eyes. An eye patch was over the right eye. The name written in a medical report that had seen better days was Ciel Phantomhive. It sounded familiar. Then she remembered—there used to be a toy company back in nineteenth century. The parents of the boy that ran the company had perished in a blazing inferno, but that was all that was ever said of the matter. What was the name?
"This is…the boy that ran the Funtom Toy Company," Megumi said aloud.
"It is. We believe that his demonic energy is what we're picking up, but he has long disappeared. If he were still in England today, we wouldn't have to send you back in time to investigate him. If he is at fault, you are to kill him immediately on the charge of overhunting the human race in a certain area," Lucidum said as he finished creating the misty lines of magic on the floor that would allow him to open the gateway to another time and place. "Preparations are complete."
Megumi looked warily at the man as he stood and dusted off his hands. "I have a way of getting back, right?"
"But of course." He reached into one of his coat's pockets and pulled out a small pink potion which he handed to her. "There's a retired shinigami where you're going. He works as an undertaker now and he has a shop of the same name in downtown London. Give him this potion and he'll be able to create a similar portal that will bring you back to the present."
Megumi took the potion and put it in her pocket before bracing herself, unsure of how her travel would go. Her boss chanted some sort of spell and slammed his hands on the cleared out floor, opening a portal that glowed red. It looked very much like a black hole and instantly made the girl apprehensive. "Are these things safe?"
"Most of the time, yes. There have only been ten incidents in which shinigami going through them were ripped to pieces, but that's only like a…28% chance against a 72% chance of making it in two pieces or less," Lucidum replied in a bored tone with a shrug.
"Like hell I'm going in that thing!" Megumi protested.
"You don't have a choice," Lucidum said, flashing her a fake smile before pushing her into it.
As Megumi fell through the time-space continuum, she gripped her head. The speed was going to make her head explode, but all she could do was hope that she would reach her destination before that happened. Then, just like that, she dropped right onto the busiest street in London of nineteenth-century England. She tried to regain her bearings, but the force of the time travel and the sudden drop onto cobblestone had completely drained her body of energy. "Lucidum…you nearly got me killed!" she quietly raged. She pushed herself up using the wall next to her and then fell right back down. It was like she had the worst case of jetlag anyone could have.
This is really bad. The trip took so much out of me that I can't even stand up. On top of that, my clothes are attracting attention. It won't be long until some of the guys on the street start asking for some favors. I've got to get somewhere…where I can rest…
"'at's a real sweetheart right 'ere," a tubby man that smelled of urine and beer smirked as he walked up to her. "Just dropped out of the sky, she did."
"Yeah, she'd sell for a lot wit' 'em 'endowments' of 'ers," a lanky one snickered from behind him.
Megumi could feel their eyes seeing right into her soul. She tried to get up again, failing just as before. "Maybe I could let one of them take me and then, when they pull me up, I could just fight them off," she murmured to herself.
All of a sudden she started getting sleepy. And just when she finally dozed off, she felt the soft hand of a woman on her face. A blur of black stared at her. Then everything went black.
1889
No matter how long she stayed in this town, Almira Castal would never cease to be surprised by the numerous amounts of nooks and crannies London contained. The streets of her hometown, Madrid, were never so complex, at least not to her. Almira's driver walked a few steps behind her as she explored the town she had chosen to make her new home, as she had been doing for the last few weeks since she moved to England after her year-long sojourn to the jungles of Asia. None of the people she passed came even close to tempting her as she walked. She was filled to the brim with souls, since the Asian region had plentiful knowledge of demons and the contracts they made with peasants and rulers alike, so hunger was the last thing on her mind. The same couldn't be said about the men and even some of the women who passed by her. They were more than tempted by her refined Spanish features, well-endowed physique, and elegant air. She noticed none of them, however, as she was far from being enticed by a human. Her heart had already been captured once and it was by a man of supernatural quality; he ruined her for any mortal.
All of these thoughts were pushed aside as she noticed of a strange surge of power nearby. Her sapphire blue eyes flashed red at the thought of the possible danger that much power posed to her. This could mean an end to her boredom so it also meant a change of route to investigate. Her heels clicked loudly as she ran down the cobbled streets of London, her driver left far behind as she searched every passageway for the source of the power surge. As she turned the corner into a narrow alley of some sort, she found a small brunette woman with barely anything on being leered at by two disgusting-looking human men. This is the source of the power? She's barely even awake! It was right after that last thought that she caught that the hefty man was speaking. "Let's see just 'ow good them endowments are. Take off them little bits 'a cloth she got on so we can get a good look, Clyde."
Despite her usual coldness toward most people, Almira instantly felt an odd protective instinct come over a second thought, she walked over to the men with a plan quickly forming in her mind for how she'd save the small brunette. The sound of her walking on the stone of the street drew their attention to her, and the tightness of her blood red dress kept it there."Why, hello gentlemen. May I ask what you are doing here with this young lady?" Her eyes flashed red once more, even though her lips spread into an innocent smile as she played with a lock of her midnight black hair.
The fat one with stains all over his shirt and a rank odor gave his thin friend a sly grin before answering, "Oh we were just goin' to 'ave some fun wit' 'er. Maybe you'd like to join the party?" Almira let out a small chuckle and knelt down in front of the woman; a black mist began to gather around her as she changed into her demon form. The demon caressed the woman's cheek and pushed a bit of power into the little one so her body would overload and she'd pass out. As Almira stood up and faced the men in her complete demon form, she addressed them with a voice that was gravelly and dark instead of sickly sweet like it was before. "I am a big fan of fun. Perhaps you know the game I like to play. It's called, 'Leave Here Now or You Die'. Doesn't that sound just delightful?" Her ruby eyes glowed menacingly as the black mist parted a bit to show horrifyingly disfigured body parts and large black blades. She didn't make it to the last sentence before the two men scurried off in fear.
With one more glare in her direction, the mist wrapped around Almira and she changed back into her human form so she could take care of the girl properly. Knowing that the she'd be passed out for a few more hours, the demon picked her up bridal-style and took her back to the carriage waiting a few miles back where the driver was told to take it if he ever got left behind. "Back to the manor William. We have a guest." He nodded and allowed his mistress to enter the carriage with her guest before flicking the reins, leading the horses on their way out of town. Inside, Almira was gently brushing the girl's hair out of her face while checking for wounds. Her clothes are odd…is she truly the one holding that immense power? If so, she could end up being interesting after all.Once the carriage arrived at the Castal estate, Almira brought her new guest to a bedroom and lied the brunette down on the bed to rest. For several hours after that, the young demon sat in the chair beside her guest bed reading a short novel as she waited for the woman to wake up. Well, she was pretending to read while she thought about what to do with the girl once the body system overload wore off. I need information. Where did she come from? Who sent her? Why did she come? Just as that thought entered her head, Almira heard some movement coming from the bed. Ah, it looks like my little guest has finally awoken. Maybe I'll finally get some answers. She closed her book and stood in the corner of the room, partially shielded in shadow, as the girl woke up and attempted to gain her bearings.
"Okay. So I fell asleep in an alley in London after a blur of black – probably a demon, now that I think of it – appeared. Now I'm in a bed. What the hell happened…" The woman murmured as she sat up and began looking around the demon blinked in surprise. So she knows of my kind. Well that just made her significantly more intriguing.
"I happened." Almira stepped forward into the light. "Apparently those men didn't like my type of fun so they left. I brought you back here to my manor since I had some questions for you and because you wouldn't have been safe by yourself in London once it got dark, especially in those clothes." She sat on the edge of the bed and looked directly at the woman as she waited for a response.
The woman sighed, pushing her glasses up with one finger before taking a moment to think. "I suppose you're the black blur I saw before I passed out?" The demon smirked and nodded.
"No need to call me a black blur; my name is Almira Castal. Though, we both know what I am, correct? Your mumblings proved that much." The woman appeared a bit peeved at her apparent mistake, but agreed nonetheless.
"Yes, you are a demon. Which begs the question, why did you save me? Aren't you guys big on the whole soul-eating thing? I'm pretty sure I was an easy target while sitting passed out on the street." Almira frowned a bit as she contemplated the question. This girl didn't need to know why she sought distractions from her boredom and the girl really didn't need to know about that weird protective feeling she got. She couldn't lie though, humans alone had that ability, so she'd have to tell some of the truth.
"Well you were interesting. I couldn't just leave you there without figuring you out. I sensed a surge of power in the area and then there you were, looking completely out of place in these short clothes you're wearing. There's something different about you and, to be perfectly honest…" Her voice became tinged with a threat as her eyes began to glow slightly. "I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what it is."