Chapter 6

For the longest time, it seemed, Ciel was caught up in the task of trying to identify Sebastian's illness. It seemed he had pulled every book in the library, searched every resource, asked every person, and turned over every rock and stone to get the answers he needed. But despite his best efforts, nothing came up. Not a single book told him about any demonic illnesses, not a single resource held any information, not a single person could tell him of anything the demon could have contracted, and not a single thing he found gave him a direct answer to his question: what was wrong with Sebastian?

However, there was still one more person Ciel could ask; someone he had avoided going to for answers for quite some time . . .

Undertaker.

The old lunatic had to know something. He at least had to know what it could be, how it was caused, and how it could possibly be cured. Of course, there'd be a price to pay to get any answers from Undertaker, and Ciel hadn't the faintest idea of how to pay it himself. That was Sebastian's job.

He didn't hesitate as he walked into the old grey funeral parlor, looking around for the undertaker amongst his many coffins.

"Undertaker, are you here?" he called out.

A dark, raspy chuckle could be heard from somewhere inside, "Welcome, my young earl."

"Please, Undertaker, I don't have time for games today."

"Oh, my! I thought the Queen's Guard Dog loved games." A man in a long, black overcoat and a top hat stepped out from a hidden corner. His long silver hair grew straight to the middle of his back and his thick, long, messy bangs hid the upper portion of his face and eyes; his bright green eyes peaking from between locks from time to time. His mouth stretched into a wide smile, "So what brings you here today? A fitting for one of my fine coffins?"

"No, it's not that. I need answers to . . ."

"Well, you know what I require for that, Lord Phantomhive. And seeing how that hilarious butler of yours isn't with you today, I'll assume you'll be paying me yourself."

Ciel gritted his teeth. How did Sebastian get the undertaker to laugh? It was so easy to for him. Yet, whatever Ciel came up with didn't even make the madman snigger.

"Look, I don't have time for this." Ciel huffed, "Sebastian could be dying of the plague, for all I know, and I need to find something that will help him!"

At that moment, Undertaker collapsed to the floor, laughing like the loon he was.

"That was brilliant, my lord!" he cackled, "To make such a statement about such a person . . . My god, you don't even know who your precious butler really is, do you?"

Ciel snorted, "Well then, I guess you could answer that too, while you're at it."

Undertaker sat himself up and sat down on one of his coffins.

"It should come as no little to no surprise to you, my earl, that I know your butler's secret." He started, "Old men like me can pick up on these kinds of things."

"So you know," Ciel sighed, "What does that have to do with it?"

"Well, you should probably know that your servant was actually the demon who spread the Black Death into Europe back in 1347."

Ciel flinched, having not been told by any of this information before, "I thought the Black Death had been caused by an infestation of black rats infested with fleas."

"It was." Undertaker confirmed, "That's why it was spread so quickly, by a demon by the name of Michaelis. He attempted to spread it to the United States. No one knows for sure why he didn't . . . But there is a legend about one of his victims."

Ciel leaned in close and listened.

"It was said that a man on his death bed, dying of the plague, had seen him. Unwilling to accept his death completely, this man supposedly cursed him to die a much similar death." The smile grew on Undertaker's face, "Which must explain you earlier statement. You said that Sebastian has fallen mysteriously ill?"

"I did." Ciel nodded, "He's feverish, he has chills, bruises are appearing on his skin out of nowhere, and I think he's been coughing up blood. Do you know what it could possibly be?"

The smile vanished from Undertaker's face as he pondered over what he was just told, "You know . . . a spider demon crawled his way in here just the other day with a much similar problem with one of his servants. He was asking me for the cure to the Black Flu—or to more-simply put—the Demonic Plague. It's like an advanced form of the Black Death Michaelis originally spread through Europe over five-hundred years ago."

"Is there a cure? How is it even caused?"

"Well, the exact cause is unknown. Some demons think it comes from the human flu virus and grows from there. Others say it comes from their masters as some form of sick punishment. But it's detected in the same way: when wounds stop healing themselves."

Ciel's thoughts instantly backtracked to the bruises he had left when he had slapped Sebastian. Sebastian could normally heal from bruises in a matter of minutes, but it had been three days since then. Could Sebastian really have the Demonic Plague, if that were the case?

"What about a cure?" he asked eagerly, "You said something about a cure."

"I only said a spider demon came here looking for the cure. Unfortunately, I don't have it."

"So there is a cure?"

"There are many stories that I've picked up over the years. The herb mentioned is said to be very difficult to find. Some say it doesn't even exist."

Ciel groaned in frustration, "Well . . . what is this herb called? What does it look like?"

"The herb is called the Black Demon Root. It's poisonous to humans, but apparently it has a taste demons love and it can heal any injury a demon has faced and any sickness a demon could have. The Black Demon Plant . . . well I don't know what it looks like. Even I've never seen it before."

Ciel pondered over the information. The cure to this was difficult to find, if it in fact existed at all.

"This plague . . ." he said, "Is it contagious? Could Sebastian die from this?"

"The plague, as far as I know, is only contagious to demons that have not had the cure passed down to them through previous generations." Undertaker said, "Thus why it's called 'The Demonic Plague'. Unfortunately, I've never heard of a demon surviving the plague. Some might be immune to it, but most aren't."

Ciel nodded and stood to leave. How was he ever going to break this news to the rest of the staff? What about his contract with Sebastian?

And then he thought of something . . .

"Undertaker! Who exactly was this spider demon and where can I find him?"