Author's Note: Trying to build a website will give you a migraine. I am so technologically-challenged. At least it's finally off the ground, not complete, but started.

On another note, a little advice for new writers that get a professional critique and it just guts you; accept the criticism for what it is, advice on making your writing better, and keep going. You'll never get better if someone doesn't point out your mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. I only claim Serena and Asta, as well as the demons and descendants that I introduce. I do not own Solomon's Key either, I'm only borrowing the locations and some of the demon's names.

Hell Welcomes You

Chapter Four

Serena heard Malphas sigh as their boat turned to follow the river, now a shimmering, iridescent gold color, and two people appeared at the next bend.

"Oh no," Ciel groaned.

"What?"

"Seere. She has great curiosity when it comes to humans." He nodded to the woman waiting for them to land on the bank then to the tall figure in armor. "And Cimeies is rather protective of her. I don't understand why. She's almost as old as myself."

"How old are you?"

"So many questions." He smirked at her, showing that he had no intention of answering. "Here we go."

Malphas stood and helped her to her feet again, holding her closer as the boat rocked when they hit the shore.

"Seere." Malphas greeted the woman before turning to the man covered in black armor. "Cimeies."

"Malphas. I see you made it back with something better than a new demon this time." Seere bounced over to Serena, but stopped shy of actually touching her.

Her dark hair was shot through with bright blonde and her eyes glowed a strange yellow, almost gold, as she stared at the red head. Her hand raised toward Serena's face and Malphas snarled behind her.

Seere stuck her tongue out and came back around to Cimeies.

"And here I was going to tell you all the gossip," she said as she draped herself over the larger demon's armored shoulder.

"Gossip?"

"Surely, you noticed the gates closed to the Spring of Wisdom." Seere giggled as she slipped behind Cimeies to reappear on the other side. "The gates that are never closed."

Serena saw her demon's eyes narrow.

"I know that you can get the information from Haagenti, but he's not home right now." She pouted. "Who knows how long will he be away and you'll be out of the loop the entire time."

Malphas growled as he rubbed his temple. "What do you want, Seere?"

"Five minutes to study your human."

"Two minutes."

"Three."

"Three minutes. Nothing invasive or past clothing."

Seere looked offended. "Of course. I understand a mate's importance." She pointed to Cimeies. "Take notes."

The demon pulled out a tape measure and waved Malphas away from his mate. Serena jumped when Seere snapped the tape measure out and focused her full attention on the red head. She was right. Gold flashed at her as the woman moved around her, taking measurements of her body as she went.

Seere kept talking to the other demon in a language that Serena didn't recognize as the armored being jotted everything down on a piece of paper he had pulled from nowhere. At least it didn't sound aggressive and Malphas and Ciel weren't moving as if it was.

"How often do you have to feed?"

She jerked back at the English. "Feed? Do you mean eat?"

"Yes, yes."

"It's recommended to eat three times a day. Plus snacks."

"You really eat that often?" Seere pulled the tape to measure her height. "You are not the average height for a human in this day and age. I thought you would eat less. Is your bloodline small?"

"Not really. I'm the shortest of them."

"Fascinating." She wrapped the tape around Serena's head. "Malphas, isn't she the average height for a female when you were human?"

"Perhaps. Maybe an inch taller."

"Excellent."

Seere fired off more questions about Serena's family, hometown and habits. How active was she? What was her favorite flavor and food?

"Time's up," Malphas stepped between them. "What is going on in the Spring?"

"Alloces from the Wilderness has been offended by something Vapula said. They haven't quite declared war on each other, but its close. Not only are we situated in the middle, but Vapula isn't our biggest fan to begin with. Belial has tried talking to Vapula but she isn't moved. My guess is it has something to do with her mate." Cimeies rolled the paper he had been writing on up and handed it to Seere. "The Elders are already choosing sides."

Malphas groaned.

Serena looked back at Ciel, hoping he would explain. Instead, he just shook his head.

"Gusion isn't doing anything about this?" Ciel asked.

"Vapula isn't listening to him." She turned back to Malphas. "We are quite glad that you have returned to the watchtower as our homes fall into the center of this mess."

Serena looked back at her demon. "Watchtower?"

"Our home guards the Bastion."

**********************Hell Welcomes You*******************

Luce listened to the soft chime of the bells his son used as a warning for anyone trying to enter his home as he walked through the door. It wasn't the first time he had marveled at what his child had managed to find during his travels. The bells themselves had been dipped in a saint's blood that allowed them to ward off those with malicious intent.

He slipped easily past the showroom and counter to walk into the workshop that served as buffer between the store and home. Aelius was bent over another of his creations, hands steadily forming a lovely bird on the wooden top in front of him. He didn't look up when his father stopped at the end of the coffin.

"I know that I haven't surprised you," Luce said as he waited for his son's attention.

"No, but I am on a deadline."

"I see." Lucifer walked around behind Aelius and looked closer at his work. "I suppose that I should have sent some notice that I was coming. It is well done."

"Thank you," Aelius grumbled.

This was normally when their communication fell apart. Seeing the feather that Aelius still wore in his hair gave him the boost to keep going, instead of retreating before his son started yelling.

"You should be happy to know that Serena has crossed through the gate with her demon."

He saw the small slip of his son's chisel and the gouge in the wood that he now had to fix.

"That's good."

"I don't understand why you are so drawn to her. She isn't your mother anymore, she doesn't remember you as her son. You will not get anything from her."

"That's the problem." Aelius set down the chisel and stood straight. "I'm fully aware that there is nothing that she can or will give me."

Lucifer shook his head. "Then what is it?"

"Sometimes people like to see people. Simple."

"Nothing is that simple. I tried to teach you that."

"And I found a different answer."

**********************Hell Welcomes You*******************

1894 The Bastion of Riches – Watchtower

Malphas carried his newest demon through the doors of his home and stopped at everyone gathered in the hall. Lucien had obviously been busy. The entrance hall had been re-decorated from it's normal dark palette to include festive streamers in neon colors that burned his eyes. And where had Lucien gotten the balloons…, or the idea that all of it would look good together.

All of his demons looked at the boy in his arms and looked back to Lucien, confused. Especially Edwin, who was coming toward him. Malphas waved off the large demon as he moved through his hall to the spiral stairs that led up into the tower, not stopping until he reached the floor below his own. The door to the room on the left side opened to let him in and he created a bed in the center to lay his former master on.

It didn't surprise him that Ciel had passed out after they went through Lucifer's Gate. The boy didn't know how to shield himself from the gate's draining power. He would wake up shortly. Unfortunately, it meant he was going to have to feed his former prey again.

He didn't have much left to spare.

Slipping back out the door, Malphas ignored Edwin coming up the stairs and went to his own rooms, a floor up. The seal he always placed around the doors when he looked to contract was already gone. Suspicious, he opened the door slowly when up the shallow set of steps that opened onto the floor.

Lucien's mate Emily, and the only human in his house, was walking across the room. She looked back before seeing him and stopped. He could feel her fear reverberate throughout the room.

"Emily, what are you doing in my rooms?"

He tried to remember that Emily was human and may not understand the demon's interactions. Inside the tower, a demon's rooms were their own territory. He tried to stay out of his demons' rooms as much as possible and allowed them to put up their own seals when they left the tower. Of course, he could break through their seals if he had too.

"I just…I had brought…"

Malphas saw the basket that she was hunching around and smelled the contents. Soaps and some of the small pieces of their world that would make a human more comfortable and feel at home. A gift to his new mate. She must have been trying to get it out of the room when he came back with a new demon instead.

"Just go," he said quietly.

"Elder, I…"

"Emily."

She jumped a little and hurried past him. Such a timid personality. He made sure the door closed before walking further into the room. He could feel Haagenti's power telling him who had opened his seal. His old mentor must have let Emily in the first time.

Taking a look around the space, Malphas wondered what Serena would have thought of the room he created. The last time he had updated it had been his last contract, over a century ago. He had been in Italy at the time and fell in love with the palazzos. A mosaic of Lucifer's fall covered the floor and the walls were painted in frescos of some of the more inviting places of his home. The room was brighter than anywhere else in the tower.

He realized that he didn't know what Serena would have thought of the room. Her own personal taste had never been explored in their short time together. Did she like the way the manor had been decorated? It had been the perfect merger of style and tradition for the late 19th century, but she had never said anything about it.

Surely, an artist would have an opinion of their own space.

The heavy wood desk nearby sailed easily through the air to crash into the large bed he had made to share with his mate. The crash was strangely satisfying and he reached for the next piece of furniture. A bookcase that he had created to curve with the wall to separate the bathing area from the rest of the bedroom made an even bigger crash.

Soon, nothing more came to his hand.

Looking at the destruction around him, Malphas was still cold as he slid to his knees in the midst of the pieces. It didn't matter. He only used this room for a small break from his responsibilities as the Elder. He didn't sleep, didn't need to bathe, as he could simply remove any dirt from his skin with power, and he could create any clothing that he wanted. No one would care if he left the room the way it was or if he just cleaned it out and never replaced anything.

"Elder."

He didn't bother to turn around at Edwin's voice.

"Leave me," he said quietly.

"We are unused to seeing you this way, Elder."

"Just leave me be."

Malphas felt Edwin come further into the room and growled. Although the demon had been one of the first members of his house with Lucien, Edwin should know better than to push him.

"Lucien said that you were to return with a mate, not a new demon."

His voice was harsh. "Change of plans."

"We are unsure of what to do now. What happened, Elder?"

"She's gone."

"Elder?"

"She's dead." He snorted. "Or she hasn't even been born yet. But I don't know where to find her."

"I don't understand."

"Serena was pulled from…" Malphas stopped.

Standing, the Elder brushed past Edwin on his way to the door.

"Watch Ciel. He shouldn't wake before I get back."

***************Hell Welcomes You********************

Present- Bastion of Riches Watchtower

Serena took a deep breath as Sebastian led her up the stairs of the massive tower that had appeared as they rounded the end of the Crystal Forest. The round structure, made of large blocks of shiny, black stone, rose out of a field. She smelled the same fragrance that had been in the soap that he had used on her and saw small flowers in various colors dotting the grasses.

The double doors opened to welcome them into the tower and Serena was reminded of the manor house's dark interior. What had she expected of the same demon that decorated the Earl's house as well?

Modern chandiliers made from crystal reminded her of floating bubbles and mixed nicely with the antiques table holding bouquets of flowers. Each was set between three sets of double doors. The set directly across matched the set they had walked through.

A beautiful, spiral staircase reached for the top of the tower made of iron. More of the same precious stones that had been set in the gate for the Bastion were studded throughout the swirling pattern of the railing. Looking closer at the hall, the sconces were actually large, glowing jewels.

Everyone was already standing in the center, waiting for them. Serena recognized Lucien and Teo and Corrine, in the midst of about twenty others. Lucien's hand was resting on the shoulder of the smiling woman in front of him. The strawberry blonde must be his mate, Emily.

Ciel slipped around the couple to join the crowd welcoming them. Everyone bowed, but Serena noticed the slight hesitation on Lucien's part. He still wasn't happy with her. She felt the growl through the hand Malphas was holding.

He had noticed Lucien too.