Before Clara could respond, another woman screamed: Mathilda. Several Dolls suddenly ripped down the corner wall and eagerly devoured her! Clara screamed at the horrific sight, feebly attempting to cover her still-masked eyes. Ronald and Sebastian cursed under their breathes, but the Shinigami was the one to make a move; taking control of his Scythe once more, he slayed those Dolls in half, thirds and even quarters. Clara was frozen in paralyzing fear during the bloodbath. "N-No," she muttered shakily, "NOO!" In that moment, life rapidly drained from the partially eaten woman. Her innards were left spread about, eyes wide-open and crying blood, mouth agape with more blood streaks cascading down to her chin.
When she finally mustered up the courage to stomach the horror up close, Clara ran to the corpse and shivered in disgust while taking it in her arms. "No…Mother, no…please don't leave me!" The woman who gave birth to her alone, raised her by herself before disappearing for years, was gone.
"MOTHER?!" Everyone else exclaimed in unison. Clara ignored their shock as she wept pathetically in mourning over the loss of her mother.
"NO, PLEASE NO!" she was sobbing. Earl, demon and Shinigami looked on sadly. Ciel couldn't help but shed a tear or two upon remembering his own parents' untimely demise, but quickly wiped them away. Before he could approach the girl and give his condolences, Ronald Knox was already at her side; an action that made Ciel glare daggers into his back. There is no sympathy possible in the cold soul of a Reaper! he thought disgustedly.
Typically, this was true…but not for Ronald.
"Hey, now, sweetheart," he murmured comfortingly, not hesitating to wrap his arms around the grief-stricken girl's waist. "Shhh…it will be okay." His scent filled Clara's nostrils, and only then did she realize whose arms cradled her so affectionately. But she refused to set the dead woman down in favor of returning the gesture. "Come, precious…there is nothing we can do now." He set a hand on the corpse. "All we can do is let her rest in peace." With great reluctance after a few more gentle coaxes, Clara gently set Mathilda's now rotting corpse down on the grimy floor and turned to Ronald; wrapping her arms around him, she cried her heart out into his shoulder. In response, Ronald stroked her hair and back as comfortingly as he could. He found it strange that she was significantly more distraught over this one measly woman as opposed to her beloved Vanel, who was also – though unintentionally – murdered in front of her very eyes. He sighed deeply, inhaling her scent: honeysuckle and jasmine. His own once-frosty heart began to ache for some mysterious reason. W-What is this strange emotion coming over me? We Shinigami are not supposed to feel at all after a death; and yet…this one was in fact not my doing. He embraced the girl closer; her racking sobs causing him to nearly lose balance on his knees. Whore and all, he continued, this poor innocent girl with supposedly nowhere else to go is grief-stricken far more than I can comprehend. Damn, Sutcliff-Senpai is going to hate me if I help her!
"No," Clara quietly responded as her sobs died down, "It won't be okay. I've lost the only parent I ever knew." Bewildered, both butler and Earl made their way over to the embracing pair.
Ciel was the first to question her. "What do you mean, Miss Clara?" The sight of her teary, visibly pained eyes when they locked with his was enough to make his heart break.
"My mother never really spoke of my father unless I asked her." She sat up slightly out of the Shinigami's arms. "Since I was a child at the time, she thought it would be best to describe him in poem. Therefore, I remember it to this day perfectly."
Then Sebastian made a suggestion. "Perhaps we can trace your father's whereabouts. If it's not too much trouble, would you be so kind as to recite this little poem for the Young Master and myself?" Clara glanced from Earl Phantomhive to the tall slender demon and her eyes grew wide. A sharp gasp escaped her mouth upon closer inspection of his features. Sebastian raised a brow. As if in a trance, Clara slowly rose to her feet. As she sauntered toward him, the words of the poem came out of her mouth almost robotically.
Eyes red as blood, hair dark as night,
A handsome and pale man
Who serves his young master's every plight.
Tall in height and dressed in butler's clothes,
His mere glance could melt you
Like the sight of a rose.
"It's…you," she stated almost breathlessly. Despite her leftover tears, Clara managed the smallest of smiles. "Daddy." As the word left her lips, her enchanting irises turned from the purest green to the most sinister red. Everyone turned to Sebastian and gawked.
"Se-Sebastian, is she really…y-your…?" Ciel sputtered. Sebastian stiffened, blushing. I h-have a…daughter?
"Oh, fuck no!" Ronald muttered sourly, quiet enough so no one else would hear.
