Chapter two: My Alois

I traveled for three days before I caught the aura of something foul. Now I have to make sure I have everything I need. I decide to visit the human realm for a few more souls. I fish them from the mentally week, and those who have nothing to live for. I get a total of twelve, and leave their bodies in the street. With a satisfied stomach, and the training Sebastian gave me, I am more then ready to fight Hanna for Alois's soul.

But before I return to the demon realm, I visit Alois's grave. I place my hand on the tree that covers the body of both him and his brother. I place my hand on the soil. The soil seems to be extremely rich and fertile. That means the body will be completely in tacked. The Soil more then likely cocooned him and kept him in a mummified state. "I will come for you, I promise," I say before transporting myself to back to the demon realm.

I follow the putrid aura of Hanna all the way up to a castle that nearly screamed the fact that she lived there. The entrance was in the form of a spider maze, she had a giant statue of her next to the courtyard, and the Gothic ambiance is over whelming. With servants (or minions) on each level to the castle. I take a deep breath before walking up to the first obstacle, a white picket fence encased with black roses and purple vines.

Slowly, I open the gate and observe my surroundings. I take a step into the maze and from the over head arch, two huge axes start swinging like a pendulum. I quickly jump forward and expect something like spikes or rotating saws to spin from the floor so I head to the top of the bushes. To my surprise little spiders started crawling up my legs and eating away at my pant leg. I decide to ignore them and keep running. I come to a huge wall that extends far beyond my jumping reach and two doors down below me.

I jump down and look behind me to make sure no wild bull will be charging at me. I see an envelope that reads, "To: guest." I pick it up and open it. The letter inside reads:

Dear guest, you have entered the domain of Hanna, a first rate demon know to capture and torture lost souls of human and demons alike. If you wish pay me a visit, chose the right answers to the following questions. What spider is the most venomous toxins, but can not kill humans?

"Pholcus phalagiodes, more commonly know as the Daddy long legs," I say out loud answering her question.

One of the doors open and I feel something deadly coming at me from the air so I run into the door and hundreds of bombs go off in the same place where I was standing just moments ago. The door closes behind me and again, I feel another threatening presence near. I get into a fighting stance and pull out my knives before closing my eyes and letting my instincts take over. I can hear the faint sound of foot steps in the bushes near by, small breaths of anticipation of blood shed, and the brushing of cotton against cotton. Finally I can pinpoint my enemy and I throw the knife into the shadow. I hear a squeal of pain and I open my eyes. It is a young demon girl. I got her where her heart would be if she was human. She falls to her knees and I walk up to her putting a knife to her throat. "Where is your master? What way do I need go?" I ask commandingly.

The skittish demon girl dries her tears and calms her chin from shaking uncontrollably. It is obvious that this is her first fight in a long while. The fear consumers her tear stained eyes. She slowly raises her shaky finger pointing down a clumsy path. "Are you lying to me?" I ask elevating my voce with a deep angry growl. The young demon girl flinches away from me and turns her head in fear before crying, "No I swear, please spare m-"

I didn't let her finish her sentence instead I slit her throat and tear her head clean off with my bare hands. Then Stylishly hanging it on a vine, as if sending a message to not get my way, then I walk down the path she pointed out to me.

The path is laid with black and crimson colored roses. I avoid the poison darts that spit out from the branches as I coolly walk through the path. I feel nothing particularly dangerous around me until I get to the next door with the next riddle. I pick up the purple piece of paper and read the blood red writing. It reads:

The venom that comes from loosing one's mate. With the bloody hour glass ticking their own time away, they have nothing better to do then sleep away the days. What is the name for such person in this state?

I roll my eyes at the simplicity of these so called riddles. "A Widow," I say and see a forest green door open up. Again I feel the since of danger and run out of range of what ever it is. I look behind me to see spinning blades come up from the ground. They are barley nipping at my heels. I finally come to a small clearing were I start to hear foot steps and feel the presence of another demon. I pull out my knives and jump to avoid the spinning blades on the floor. They grind against each other and make screeching noises draining out the sounds of the demon near by.

Standing on a branch high above the spinning blades I focuses my senses on the demon surrounding me. I hear two pairs of foot steps, two separate breaths and small whispers. I pin point the location of one demon and strike him down in a heart beat, the second one is a little more difficult. He manages to get out of the bushes and charges me. I block him expertly and toss him into the spinning blades under me. He screams in pain as the other one comes wobbling out of the bushes and attempts to stop me. I put him in a choke hold and force him to his knees. That is when I reach into his chest with my bare hands and pull out his blue, cold heart that hasn't beaten since the demon's life began. The body falls to the ground and I throw the heart into the blades and watch it be torn to millions of pieces, and I walk away.

I take the roughest route to the castle and encounter more hard ships along the way, and the battles get progressively harder. Thankfully, I was trained for speed and stamina. These trials are nothing compared to the hell Sebastian put me through during our training. So I breeze past the pathetic riddles, the tricked out maze, and battles with random good for nothing slaves, until I reach the foot of the stairs.

"Hanna! Show your self you coward!" I yell into the large castle. I hear a laughter echo me. I can't pin point her exact location, but then again, I never really could do that with Sebastian when he would put forth the effort to keep hidden. The best I could do was guess and throw away a lot of my knives and hope to hit something.

"You are calling me a coward when you are the one who runs from the only thing that's ever loved you because of your own greed?" She called to me from her hiding spot, "Feh, I am not afraid of a third rate demon like yourself."

I get into a fighting stance and get ready to draw my weapons. "Then you have nothing to worry about. Get down and clean this pest from your door step you spineless maggot," I say taunting her to reveal herself. That is when I feel a tremendous amount of power just accumulate from somewhere behind me. I quickly jump out of the way and toss my forks toward that general direction.

I suddenly hear something right behind me. I feel a strong arm wrap around my neck and start to crush my wind pipe. I lace my feet between her s and trip her. As she goes down I turn my body and go for a swift punch to the throat, but she doges it.

She chuckles evilly and smiles to me. "So you're a third rate demon with second rate fighting skill, Clever." She says as digs into dress and pulls out two hand guns and fires at me. I flip away from the shower of bullets and retaliate with my own knives. She bounces away from me and balances herself on the railing of her castle.

"Tell me, are you here to get back the soul I rightfully stole from you, or just to get revenge for taking it?" She asks me as she jumps in the air and starts shooting at me. I keep dogging them until she vanished. "If you want the truth, I have come to retrieve his soul, and bring him back!" I say into the nothingness that surrounds me. I try to keep quite so I can hear her.

My choice is to close my eyes and heighten all my senses. I can hear everything around me. The rustle in the bushes, the foot steps of her other minions, and the sound of my faint breath. But I can't since her any where. I can't hear her foot steps, feel her aura, or even since her general area. I stumble in the dark and try so hard to keep my self under control. I open my eyes and rely on my sight. I can't see her. It is like she really did vanish into thin air. I bite my lip and wait.

I don't have to wait long. I hear the click of her small hand gun and the change in the chamber. That is when I hear a loud bang and I feel the tearing of muscle as the bullet in lodges itself in my knee cap. I feel the bone shatter as I try to contain a scream of pain. I try to ignore it and toss my knife in that direction.

Gripping my knee and trying to stay focused on the fight, I spin to meet her right behind me. "And why would he want to come back to you? You're helpless, weak, worthless. I am sure his soul would rather be locked in a chamber of hate then see you again," She says as she circles me like a buzzard gathering around their prey. I Stand up, grab her by her long and silvery hair and run her throw with my knife before growling in her ear, "You may be right about me. But I have to see him again. And you're no better than I, Hanna. You just wanted his soul to spite me. You and I both know you'd be as weak as an insect if you hadn't taken him," with that, I smash her head into a wall hard enough to break through it and threw her across the room; knowing I had to be quick to get in another hit.

I feel Hanna's energy start to gather, and I see her normal purple and white dress turn into a black leather dominatrix outfit. One of her servants run over and reach in her mouth and pull out her long green sword. She rips it from their hands and slays them on the spot. I my self turn demonic and change forms. I let my hair fly out behind me, and my clothes change as my sword materializes in my hand. "So you think you can play with the big kids huh?" She speaks in a her normal tone but with a sinister growl behind it, "Show me what you got." Then she charges me.

We clash swords and Hanna goes to kick me. I Use her sword to push me up. I land on her roof and send out a series of webs and warp them around her neck and start to squeeze. She starts to have problems breathing until she cuts the web and jumps at me. I block her with my sword. I look down at her hand placement and notice she is only using one hand. I frantically try to locate her other hand. But it is futile. Until, however I feel a steel barrel at my side. I attempt to spin to escape her grasp but she blocks me with her sword. I try to back up, but instead I hear her pull the trigger, and I feel the small silver bullet rip through my rib cage and tear out my other side. I fall to my knees in pain, and look up at her.

Hanna points her sword to my throat and smiles. "Now you are at your rightful spot. On your knees before your superiors," Hanna says as she points the tip of her sword to my neck. "Now beg me to spare your life." She pushes he sword into my shoulder and gives me a deep gash in my arm, but I stay silent. "If you do not intend to beg, then I guess your end is here." She says as she cocks her sword back.

"No!" I shout with a hateful growl in my voice, "On the contrary, your end is near!" I grip my hilt and stab here through her gut and push the tip into the wall. She screams in pain and tries to get out, but that just causes a bigger gash in her gut. I move in close to her and bite her neck looking for Alois's soul. "He won't come back to you!" She yell, "He gave his soul to be with his brother! Why would he give that up now?" She screams as I keep searching her soul gallery.

I eat the souls that I don't care about and then I find his. My sweet Alois. I take his soul from her and transpose it into his ring that I kept in my pocket. I pull back and let the screaming demon catch her breath. Hanna tries to pull the sword out of her but she can't. I took half her life support, and she has become weakened from the fight. I grip the ring close to me and start to turn away. "Alois will never accept you," She speaks with no breath from the screaming, "How could he accept a glutinous fool like you? He was happy there! He is with his family!"

Anger was the first emotion to hit me so ran back to her in the blink of an I I was pushing the blade deeper in her and twisting it. Hanna tries to muffle her screams as she speaks, "He gave up everything! He gave up life, he gave up all the money he wanted, he even gave up what he felt for you, just to be with his brother again. Who are you to take that away!" She lets out a horrifying shriek. that's when it hit me. I still have Ciel's old ring as well. So I bite her neck again.

Hanna's power begins to visibly fade as I continue the search for Luka's soul when her cries for mercy and help diminish to whimpers out due to her lack of air to scream. I find Luka, and place his soul into Ciel's old ring. I pull out my sword knowing Hanna is to weak to stand. I feel something grip on the back of my leg and I look down at her. "please…" She begs, "Please save me… please don't leave me…"

As I look down at my mortal enemy I question my true intentions here. Seeing her on her knees, weakened, fragile like a small doll on a stand. I give her a devious smile and turn to her. "you know you look rather pathetic right now. But because you asked me so very nicely," I as putting my sword down. "thank you, thank you so much, you're so gracious to the meek like me," She grabs my pant leg as I kneel down next her.

"Because you are so meek, and worthless, then…" I pull her into a hug and wrap my arm around her. Hanna strokes my back as if clinging to the last strands of life. "Then I will make it look like you passed on in dignity," I say as I dig my claws into the back of her neck and grab her spinal cord. Swiftly I pull and her head comes off at the bone.

I change back to my human form and transport my self back to Alois and Luka's grave. I dig up their bodies. Surprisingly Luka's body is fully together. My guess was the soil got so fertile after the fire that the nutrients mummified the body completely. If this land was to never be used, in fifty years, the body would look the same. I Slipped the ring on Luka's finger.

The small boy let out a small groan. His eyes opens and he looks at me with curiosity. "Who are you?" Luka asks me. "My name is Claude. I retrieved you from your demon Hanna, along with your brother," I explain to him. But all he heard was brother because he jumps from my arms and goes to run. He falls down and starts crying. I pick him up and lean him against the tree. "Please try not to move, your body is brittle. You have been dead for nearly four years," I tell him before digging up Alois.

Alois also looks the exact same. He has the platinum blonde hair and his porcelain skin stained by the dirt. I slowly run my fingers across the edge of his face and down his shoulder to his delicate hand scared at the knuckles. I slip the ruby ring onto his small finger and I watch his small body fill with life. His chest starts to move up and down in rhythm to his heart beat. Thankfully he hasn't been gone as long as his brother, so he isn't so weak. Alois slowly twitches his fingers and rubs his eyes like he has just woken up from a long nap. When he opens his eyes I wit back and let him get up.

"What are you doing here Claude?" Alois asks me with anger in his tone. I stand up and bow to him before speaking softly, "I acquired your soul from your demon Hanna."

I hear Alois huff and shift as if he crossed his arms. "God your so dense! You put me on a roller coaster ride with my emotions, and the first time I am happy with my brother some one I know loves me, you rip that away too!" I can tell he is about cry, but he is keeping it in due to his pride. "If your wish is to continue your life with your little brother, then may I please carry him back to your mansion?" I ask humbly, trying not to show the sadness in my voice.

Alois slowly turns to me with a skeptical look. "Oh yeah, cause a corps of your dead brother in your house isn't creepy at all!" His arms are still crossed as he speaks to me with heavy sarcasm. "well it kind of is… but is a good thing I am not a corps, I just can't move to well," Luka says not catching the sarcasm. Alois' eyes widen at the sound of his little brothers voice before jumping up and runs to the source of the sound.

"Why can't he move, what happened to him?" Alois speaks accusingly. I Sigh, "My dear Alois, his body has been under ground for nearly four years, it was by luck that I could bring him back at all," I explain bending over to pick him up, "When we get to your place I will work up a calcium solution so he can get his strength back faster," I cradle Luka and lead them back home.

We come to village and rent a horse and carriage. I place Luka in the back and help Alois into the carriage before going in the front and start the slow trek to the Trancy mansion. About a day into the ride home I find my self alone pushing a tiered horse to the brink of starvation. So we find a small motel in the middle of nowhere. Of course Luka is fast asleep and Alois is wide awake when I open the carriage door. Alois jumps out of the carriage and walks right past me. I pick up the sleeping Luka and carefully cradle him in my arms. We walk to the room and I set up the bed for Alois and his little brother. They climb in and I feed Alois some dinner I bought from the cook. I place the meal at the end table and walk to the window and sit down on the window sill.

I hear Alois walk up behind me, and leans against the wall looking out the window. All the way here we haven't spoken a word to me since our spat by his grave. "Thank you," Alois says to me. I am shocked. He speaks! I turn to him keeping my face emotionless. "For what?" I ask him prying he can't the uncertainty, the nervousness, or the emotions that are swelling up in me.

"Well, for.." Alois stops and thinks for a moment, "For bring me and Luka back to life, for helping Luka, for saving me from the deep dark world I was descended to, and for getting us all the food, and, and, and everything else…" Alois says as he lets his head drop slightly. His normal prideful look falls and makes him look like he was about to cry.

I move my legs and take his hands with out thinking, thankfully he doesn't pull away. "No need to thank me, I did it all for a reason. And they all involve making you and your brother feel better," I tell him.

To my surprise Alois walks into me and puts his hands on my shoulders and pulls me into a small hug. I hug him back and ask kindly, "What is really wrong?" he lays his head on my shoulder and whispers, "why did you do this? You never really cared about me. Why couldn't you at least have enough decency to not bring me back into that kind of life?"

Alois is shockingly calm as he is asking the questions, but I reached my breaking point. I pull away from the hug and look at with a sincere look. "I am so sorry. For everything. For the pain I caused you, the Hell I put you through, and for not keeping you safe when you are the most important thing to ever come into my life," I say. I don't know if it is a good thing that I went on autopilot and said the first thing that came to my mind because Alois didn't move. He just looked at me with the blank expression he was sporting earlier.

I stare at him as his face slightly softens, almost like he was about to cry. "How much of that is true, because you always used to lie to me about those things," Alois says as his voice quivers and he tries to hold back his tears. I pull him close and hold him there. "I know, and I a sorry for that as well… But please Alois, please except me back. I am so extremely sorry for hurting you, for letting you go. I know your death was my fault, and I tried everything to repent for it. If you don't think I did enough, please tell what I need to do to be worthy of your praise again…" I say to him, nearly clinging to the back of his shirt.

Alois sits on my lap and leans into me wrapping his arms around my neck and laying his head on my shoulder. I stroke his back and hold him close. I start to hear soft sobs as he cries on my shoulder. "just please, please don't let me sleep alone!" He cries into my neck, gripping my jacket. "please don't leave me again… I don't want to be alone any more…"

I nod and rub his back. "Everything will be okay, I won't leave you again, I promise to never hurt you again," I say to him kissing his neck. Alois's sobs soften as he says, "thank you so much, for saving me from her…" his voice lowers as he falls asleep on my lap. I pick him up and put him in bed keeping my promise and staying by his side through out the night.

The trip home suddenly didn't seem nearly as long now that Alois is back to normal. We got home safely and changed him and Luka into clean clothes and gave them a hot bath. I have been giving Luka a calcium and protein mixture and he is now at full health. They run and prance together like nothing ever really happened. And I am the one to observe Alois's happiness, this time with a warm smile and open arms.