Thanks to everyone who's stuck with my fanfiction! I honestly didn't expect anyone to read it soo... Also, thank you to the people who reviewed. It means a lot :) I hope you enjoy this next chapter!


(Phantomhive Manor - Master Bedroom) Astre's POV


The sound of a door creaking open wakes me from my slumber. I open my eyes quickly, then close them again as they're met with a blinding light.

"Young master, It's time to wake up now," a deep voice says. I yawn, opening my eyes about half-way and stretching my arms up into the air.

"You have nothing on the schedule today," the voice continues. There's a soft clinking sound as a china tray is placed on my nightstand.

"Hmm…"

At last, I open my eyes the entire way and reach for my tea, which Sebastian hands to me.

"Do you require anything else, my lord?" he asks as he gives me the china cup.

"No nothi-" I feel my eyes widen as my brain fully awakens. Only several hours ago Sebastian was passed out in his room…

"Sebastian! You've healed!" I shout, sitting upright in bed. My butler chuckles.

"Not completely, my lord, but I will most certainly be able to return to my work."

I blink a few times to make sure I'm not seeing things. I'm not. I 'hmph' softly, taking a sip of tea.

"I suppose I should have expected you to heal quickly, but I thought it would take you several days at the very least!" Sebastian just nods, saying nothing. I recall the events of the previous day and chuckle.

"Finny and I had to carry you about two miles to the manor," I mutter, smirking and glancing sideways at my butler. "Even you have your weak moments, ay?"

Sebastian, now opening the curtains, bursts into a deep laugh before muffling it with a gloved hand. Why the hell is that bastard laughing?

"What's so funny?" I ask angrily. Unable to lie, Sebastian just doesn't respond at all. I huff in response to his stubborn silence, scowling.

"I order you to tell me."

Sebastian smiles.

"If you must know, my lord, I was perfectly capable of walking." It takes a few seconds for his words to register.

"WHAT?" I shout, glaring at the man. Sebastian laughs again.

"You see, it was quite funny to see you struggle to carry me, so I may just have 'forgotten' to mention my capability to walk."

If looks could kill, even Sebastian would probably be dead by now. My butler's grin widens as he notices my expression.

"If it makes you feel any better, my lord, I was severely injured. That was most likely the greatest amount of pain I'd ever felt in my long lifetime. However, It would require a much worse injury to prevent myself from walking."

I feel my face heat up as I remember my great struggles trying to lug his heavy body around the previous day. And he wasn't even genuinely hurt! I whip my arm out and point to the door, uttering only one word.

"Out!"

Sebastian complies dutifully, bowing his head, striding over to the door, and closing it softly behind himself with a click.

Of course, I command him to come back in only a few seconds later, as I'm unfortunately incapable of dressing myself.

After I'm fully clothed I announce my intentions to spend the majority of the day in my office and then leave to said room. I need to work on the case my brother and I have been presented with. I need to solve it before he does. I've been far too of-task as of recently, though it's definitely not my fault. My messed-up family keeps distracting me from my work.

I reach the office door, opening it slowly, then walking through the doorway and locking the door behind myself. I need to ensure I'm not distracted if I'm to work on this case. I need some peace and quiet.

Only ten seconds pass before there's a knock on the door.

I groan, rolling my eyes. So much for peace and quiet.

"Come in."

The door creaks open, revealing none other than my demonic butler, Sebastian Michaelis. I feel as though I've been seeing him quite a lot lately. Lately meaning every day in the past three years.

"What do you want?" I ask - trying my best to be polite and not let my annoyance show. My efforts are completely wasted.

"I have something that you might be interested in," my butler responds vaguely, holding up a newspaper. Suddenly intrigued, I stride across the room to have a look.

"What is it?"

Sebastian points to the first article on the front page.

"Mysterious Mass-Murder Yesterday," the title reads.

I gasp, quickly skimming through the words below. Sure enough, It's almost an exact copy of the mass-murder that lead to the death of Prince Albert.

I snatch the paper from my butler's hands, shoving it close to my face as to ensure I'm not reading it incorrectly. The murderers have started again. What does this mean? I begin to pace the room, trying desperately to make sense out of this confusing case. I stop walking, freezing in place as I realize something.

"The murders were happening until my father died. Then he got resurrected and they started again." I glance at Sebastian, gauging his reaction to my theory. He smiles mischievously but says nothing. I start pacing again, waving my hands as I talk.

"Of course, correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation. And even if my father had any relationship with the murders in the past, that doesn't explain why he would continue to murders now, what with his 'new soul' and all." Does that even matter?

"If I may speak, my lord," Sebastian requests from the front of the room. I nod at him, signaling him to continue.

"It was simply a theory of mine that your brother and father have new souls. Of course, I find it quite hard to believe that your brother has the same soul, but I see little reason why your father should have a different soul." I frown at his words, rubbing my chin thoughtfully.

"Okay, but if my father still has the same soul, then why the drastic change in personality?" Sebastian just smiles.

"I'm not sure, my lord," he says, then doubles over, coughing harshly into a gloved hand then wiping blood off of his mouth. I squint at him.

"Are you quite alright?"

He smiles again, regaining his composure.

"I'm fine," he responds calmly

I roll my eyes.

"Sure you are. But back to the problem at hand. What am I even supposed to do if my father is behind these murders? I'll have to tell the Queen, of course, and she'll surely want my father punished. But…" I sit down heavily on my chair, folding my hands in front of myself. After a few more seconds of thinking I sigh, repeatedly tapping the side of my head.

Sebastian stands near the door, saying absolutely nothing like a complete moron. Would it hurt him to provide even the slightest bit of input?

At last I grunt, standing upright.

"Prepare lunch, Sebastian. Immediately after lunch I will investigate the scene of the murders from the newspaper," I order, starting out of the office. Sebastian opens the door for me and follows me through the halls and down the long, purple staircase.

"Of course, my lord. Anything else?" I shake my head absentmindedly.

"No."

As my butler and I part ways, I can't help but think about how much he's changed since the day I first laid eyes upon him. He was more sarcastic back then… more sarcastic and well, scarier. It's not just his personality that changed, however. I've been able to notice small changes in his physical appearance as well. His teeth aren't as sharp as they were before. His eyes -no- his whole face is… softer than before. He's evolved to look nicer, not as threatening. He's evolved in an attempt to gain my trust. But that just makes me trust him even less.

I stop walking about halfway through the hallway leading to the dining room. I close my eyes, taking a moment to absorb my surroundings. I absorb the silence. I absorb the cold air in the hallway and the soft sound of my breath. I take it all in. After all, I don't know how much longer I have to live.


(Phantomhive Manor - Kitchen) Finny's POV


It takes no effort to beat Bard in arm-wrestling. Well, no effort unless you count my great effort to not break his arm, or smash through the wooden table.

"Man," Bard sighs sadly, shaking his arm back and forth to stretch it out, "how the hell are you so strong, Finny?"

I giggle, leaning back in my chair. Strength. The one thing I'm good at.

"What makes you think arm-wrestling on the master's table is a good idea?" A deep voice asks from the doorway. Great. It's the killer of moods.

"Hi, Sebastian!" I shout, springing up from my chair to greet the man. I clearly remember how shocked us servants were when he woke us up this morning, looking the same way he always does. The young master wasn't exaggerating when he said he heals fast. Sebastian ignores my warm greeting and continues to reprimand me.

"With your strength you could have easily broken Baldroy's arm. Or worse, the table." Baldroy snorts at the last remark and goes to light another cigarette. I wonder randomly how many cigarettes that man's smoked in his short lifetime.

"You're just jealous Finny's stronger than you are," Baldroy retorts, crossing his arms. Sebastian raises his eyebrows at the comment.

"You believe that Finny is stronger than I am?" Baldroy nods confidently, but I shake my head.

"Nah, he was able to drag me out of the young master's room real easy. Way back when we were in that witch's house," I recall. The memory makes me shudder. Especially when I think about what he was probably doing after he shut me out. Now that I know Sebastian's true nature, a lot of things make sense.

Baldroy smirks, glaring at Sebastian.

"Well I bet you couldn't beat him in arm-wrestling," he declares. Sebastian smiles and comes to sit across from me at the table.

"If I beat Finny in an arm-wrestling match, I get to take away all the dynamite you've been hiding from me, and you don't complain." I see Bard swallow in response to the butler's words. He clearly didn't know Sebastian was aware of the explosives he's been hiding in the kitchen cabinets.

"Fine." the chef huffs. Sebastian places his elbow on the table and extends an open hand to me. I do the same.

"Five… four… three… two… one…"

I push as hard as I can against Sebastian's hand, my eyes flashing a different color. I don't even stand a chance. Sebastian pushes just hard enough to resist my strength at first, toying with me and Bard. Then, with a sudden burst of power, he pins my arm flat against the table with ease.

He holds my arm down for about a second before he stands up, strides to the cabinet in which the dynamite is hidden and takes bright red explosives out, tucking them somewhere in his coat.

Bard glares but says nothing in accordance with his deal with Sebastian. I smile sheepishly, cracking my knuckles and standing up.

"Sorry, Bard." Baldroy waves his hand at me.

"Nah, you're fine, kid," he says, then leans in to whisper in my ear. "I'll just get more soon anyway." A mischievous grin spreads across his face.

"No you won't," Sebastian says calmly from across the kitchen where he stands preparing the master's lunch. I giggle as Baldroy frowns again and mutters something harshly under his breath.

There are a few moments of near silence (the only sounds are of Sebastian preparing lunch and Baldroy smoking) until Snake walks in. Per usual, he's whispering things to the multiple snakes adorning his body.

"Hi, Snake!" I shout enthusiastically, leaping up from my seat to meet the snake-man. He flinches away from me like I'm a rabid beast. Snake's probably the most bashful person I've ever met.

"H-hi Finny," he mumbles. It's one of those rare moments when Snake - Snake the human - is talking.

"Finnian, please take this to the young master," Sebastian says from the other side of the kitchen. He snaps his fingers and the dish he's just prepared for the young master floats across the room to me. I open my hands and it settles gently into them. I feel my eyes bulge out of my head.

"COOL!"

Sebastian rolls his eyes in response.

"Please deliver it quickly, the young master and I have somewhere to be in about an hour." I do a quick salute and with a quick 'yes sir' I'm out of the kitchen, traveling down the manor's long hallways to the dining room.


The pale light streaming in through the large windows lining the hallway mixed with the silence makes me feel a tad lonely for some reason. It's at times like these that I think back to all of my old friends. The ones who are now all dead. Despite the bloody, violent fights we were forced to partake in, I miss all of my old friends. I miss them so much it hurts.

I walk into the dining hall quietly to find the young master sitting at the end of the large table. His eyes are closed and his features are relaxed.

"Young master?"

Astre's eyes open at the sound of my voice. He blinks a few times and then sighs softly.

"Thank you, Finny," he mumbles as I go to set down his meal - carefully to ensure I don't break the fragile tray.

I just stand there awkwardly for a few seconds before turning to leave.

I'm almost at the doorway when the young master stops me.

"Finny," he calls. I turn around and he gazes into my eyes.

"Yes, young master?"

He opens his mouth to speak, then shuts it again after a couple moments.

"Nothing,"

I bow sloppily and turn to leave. What was he going to tell me?


(Random Road in London) Astre's POV


The carriage jerks to a stop harshly in the middle of the road. We're not even close to the scene of the murder from the paper.

"What the bloody hell?" I complain as my head smacks the vehicle's window. I look to my butler for answers. He says nothing, his eyes widening.

"What is it?" I ask, "Don't tell me it's those bloody reapers again." I'm really not in the mood to deal with those nuisances again.

"Hmm… no, it is not," Sebastian mutters distractedly.

"Then who the hell is it?"

Sebastian ignores me and goes to open the door of the carriage.

"Please stay inside, young master," my butler requests, stepping outside and closing the door behind himself. That bastard. Would it hurt him to at least tell me what's going on?

I clamber over to the other side of the carriage and move the velvety, blue curtain, peering outside. Sebastian's standing a few feet from the window, talking calmly to another man standing across from him.

The stranger's resemblance to Sebastian is shocking. They appear to be the same height. Both have silky, black hair and inhumanly handsome features. They share the same emotionless expressions. They even have the same eye col-. I gasp.

Wait a second...