While the Undertaker fights the black knight and gets himself incredibly lost, Sebastian, Ciel, and Grell continue to sleep in a peaceful silence. Grell smiles to himself as he dreams, mumbling Sebastian and William's names and other perverted things in his sleep. He feels completely relaxed, being extremely comfortable to have such a warm, soft pillow to lay his head on.
...Though speaking of which, didn't he fall asleep on the cold hard ground? How did he all of a sudden get to lay on something soft? Grell slowly opens his tired eyes, looking up to realize that he is laying on Sebastian's chest. His eyes widen, a large blush appearing on his face as his mind tries to process what is happening.
I am lying on top of Bassy, without forcing it upon him. Oh. My. God.
Before he has the chance to make another move, Sebastian at this point wakes up. At the sight of Grell, Sebastian violently pushes him off of him, which causes Ciel to wake up.
"Violating someone's personal space is not the best of ideas, Grell," Sebastian says in a dangerously low voice. "Especially if that someone was already in a bad mood..."
Grell crawls away from Sebastian.
"H-hey, I never moved from where I fell asleep last night!" he cries, portraying his innocence. "I just happened to wake up, and I was on top of you!"
Not that I am complaining...
Sebastian narrows his eyes. "Unlikely story."
He picks Grell up from the collar of his shirt and gets ready to punch him. Ciel rubs his eyes.
"...Sebastian, just let him go," the young earl commands with a yawn. "It's too early in the day for me to get a headache."
Sebastian looks back at Ciel, a disappointed look in his eyes. He lets out a heavy sigh.
"Yes, young master."
He let's go of Grell and he drops to the ground, whimpering a bit from the fall.
"It already past dawn," Sebastian announces as he looks up at the sky. "Undertaker must have either kept watched all night or fell asleep and nothing eventful happened to wake us up."
"Speaking of which, where is the Undertaker?" Ciel asks. "I don't see him anywhere."
Grell blinks, looking all around the campsite, for surely the Undertaker had to be here. But to his surprise, the retired grim reaper is nowhere in sight. A puzzled look appears on Grell's face.
"Do you think he decided to go on ahead of us to see if there is any danger?"
"Knowing the Undertaker, who the hell knows," Ciel says, rubbing his forehead. "But he will show up eventually, so I wouldn't worry much about it."
Sebastian nods in agreement.
"Yes, we can't afford us to get distracted. Especially with that old man from last night, when he said there is more danger to come."
It takes awhile for Grell to reply. "...Oh yeah, I forgot about him."
Ciel raises an eyebrow.
"Old man? What are you two talking about?"
Both Grell and Sebastian turn to Ciel. Sebastian smirks.
"That's right. I forgot that you had fallen asleep before he came, young master."
Ciel narrows his eyes, which makes Sebastian's eyes glow with amusement. Grell rolls his eyes.
"Okay, can we get a move on now?"
"Yes, once you tell me what happened with this 'old man,'" Ciel answers.
Grell rolls his eyes again.
"In a nutshell, the three of us were sitting beside a fire, me resting my head on Bassy's shoulder. It was a perfect romantic moment, minus Undertaker saying something about a dangerous 'them.' Then this creepy old man shows up and makes Bassy move, much to my dislike. He starts saying weird shit, Undertaker starts to realize why everyone avoids him, Bassy gets annoyed, I get annoyed because Bassy is annoyed. And then he says go to a Bridge of Death, find a wizard name Tim, who I hope is pretty to look at, and then we finally find the goddamn grail, in which Sebastian picks me up bridal-style and we walk off into the sunset!"
A dreamy look appears in Grell's eyes as he says that last part. Sebastian's eye twitches.
"No. Just no."
He turns to Ciel.
"But that is basically what happened. This journey is far from over, and will only grow harder as we go on."
Ciel blinks.
"Then we should get going. And from the sounds of it, we need to find this 'them' before we can get to this 'Bridge of Death.'"
Sebastian nods.
"I shall lead you to victory and protect you with all my might, my lord."
He gives a small bow and the two of them start to head north.
"Hey, don't forget about me!"
Grell quickly gets up from the ground and runs after Sebastian and Ciel. They walk in complete silence, the air becoming slightly colder the further north they go. A fog starts to form out of nowhere and with little reason, making the entire forest seem more sinister looking. Chills go up Grell's spine, partly because he is cold and the other part because he is getting a little freaked out. This whole forest has been nothing but a freak show, from him being accused of being a witch and the appearance of the crazy old man to now being forced to face another strange foe.
Is this stupid grail really worth all this trouble?
"...Stop where ever you are."
Grell freezes in place at the sound of Sebastian's voice. The entire forest becomes deathly still, the fog now incredibly thick and blinding. Grell moves closer to Sebastian, taking a hold of his arm.
"W-why did you make us stop, Sebastian?" he asks, unable to hide his fear.
"I hear something," Sebastian answers emotionless. "...Something is surrounding us and is coming closer and closer."
Grell tenses up, tightening his grip. Sebastian puts his hands on Ciel's shoulders and brings him closer to him, holding on to him protectively. Ciel does nothing to resist, as he too seems a bit tense. Surely enough, Grell begins to hear the footsteps that Sebastian had mentioned, starting to see large shadows getting projected towards them. Dark figures are appearing all around them from the fog, large devil like horns on them.
Is this 'them?!' Grell asks himself fearfully. Is 'them' a group of demons ready to hunt us down?!
And more importantly, are they sexy like Sebastian?
"...Ni!"
Out of the fog, a tall knight with antlers on top of his helmet and a long mustache appears before them, with at least a hundred men behind him. Together, they encircle Grell, Sebastian, and Ciel, leaving no room for escape. The three of them look up at the knight with antlers, his dark eyes staring down at all three of them.
"Ni! You have come far into this forest, brave adventurers!" the knight exclaims. "But your journey ends here, for we are your doom!"
"And who are you?" Ciel demands.
The knight and his men smirk, some of them laughing softly.
"We are the protectors of this forest, one of the many tests to make sure evil stays away from the holy grail. We are..."
He pauses for dramatic effect.
"...The Knights Who Say Ni!"
"Ni!"
"Ni!"
"Ni!"
"Ni!"
His men chant continuously the word 'ni.' Ciel gives a puzzled look.
"'Knights Who Say Ni?' I've never heard of you."
He looks up at Sebastian for an explanation, but the demon's face remains emotionless.
"...The Knights Who Say Ni," Sebastian says softly. "I should have guessed that your cult would be here."
"Yeah," Grell agrees, letting go of Sebastian in order to grab his death scythe. "And those who see them rarely live to tell the tale..."
The leader of the Knights Who Say Ni smiles.
"Indeed. For it has been many centuries since the last man got away from us... And he wasn't even a human!"
He pauses.
"But you are an interesting trio... A human accompanied by a shinigami and a demon, in search of the grail no doubt."
"We are, and we will do whatever it takes to reach it," Ciel says. "We will fight you to the death if we need to!"
The Knights Who Say Ni laugh.
"Oh, we do not wish to fight you, oh no!" the leader of the knights exclaim. "But we do require a sacrifice that must be played out exactly how we wish in order to continue."
"A sacrifice?" Sebastian questions. "Like a human sacrifice?"
The leader of the knights narrows his eyes malevolently.
"No, for what we require is something much more terrifying and mind boggling. We want..."
He pauses for dramatic effect, which really ticks off Grell and Sebastian.
"...a shrubbery!"
"...A what?"
Ciel gives a puzzle look while Sebastian resists the erg to face palm and Grell has his mouth wide open from shock. The leader of the Knights Who Say Ni nods his head.
"Yes, a shrubbery! And if you do not appease us, we will ni you to death! Ni!"
The whole cult starts to shout the word 'ni' at them, making it sound like that they are casting a curse on them. But it has no effect on Grell, Sebastian, or Ciel, in fact, it just confuses them even more.
"...Why would you want a shrubbery?" Grell questions.
"Because it will make this dark forest look nice," the leader of the knights explains. "Do you have a problem with that, shinigami?"
"Um...may-ow!"
Grell stops in mid sentence as Ciel elbows him in the stomach. He clears his throat.
"Alright, if that's what you want, Knights Who Say Ni. We shall get you a shrubbery to pass through this forest."
The leader of the knights nods his head slowly.
"Yes...that is the agreement. And make sure that you get one that looks nice."
"Of course," Ciel replies. "I shall give you the best shrubbery that England has to offer."
"And one that isn't too expensive," the leader adds.
"...Okay, I will keep that in mind."
"And make sure that when you get the shrubbery that the shrubbery looks even and isn't too green that the shrubbery will stand out from the trees."
"...Fine. And-"
"And don't get one that is too large or too small, but a good size that will compliment the river towards the west."
"...Anything else?"
"...No, I think that's all."
The leader of the knights points dramatically to the south.
"No, go!"
With that said, the Knights Who Say Ni let Ciel, Sebastian, and Grell go. They walk until they are completely out of earshot of the knights, and as soon as they are, Ciel immediately says, "Sebastian, make a shrubbery and bring it to the knights."
"Under normal circumstances, I would do it without any hesitation, young master," Sebastian says. "However, in order for me to make a shrubbery, I would have to use my demotic powers. And if I use them while we are still in this forest protected by light magic, I will cease to be."
"…Are you telling me that just making a simple shrubbery will cause you to die?"
Sebastian sighs.
"Unfortunately, my lord."
Grell rolls his eyes.
"Boys, if you want a shrubbery, then just leave it to me! I get it done with no problem."
Sebastian and Ciel stare at Grell like he suddenly grew bright red wings.
"…You can make a shrubbery?" Ciel questions in disbelief. "How will you make a good quality shrubbery in the middle of an isolated forest?"
Grell crosses his arms defensively.
"By using my death scythe, which is actually a gardening tool. I'll just cut down a few trees and turn them into a shrubbery."
Ciel's eye twitches.
"There…there is no way that would work. They would notice you cutting down the trees!"
"But what other option do we have?" Sebastian counters. "We don't have the time to get a shrubbery nor the ability to go buy one. And we need to get pass the knights."
He looks at Grell in the eye.
"And if it fails…just chop them all to bits with your death scythe. They may be the powerful Knights of Ni, but even they can't match a grim reaper's scythe."
Grell nods and smile.
"Right you are, Sebastian darling! Just leave it all to me…"
"Oh, Knights Who Say Ni, we have brought you your shrubbery," Ciel says an hour later as he, Sebastian, and Grell stand before the knights. "Are you satisfied with our results? May we go now?"
Grell smiles to himself as the leader studies the shrubbery he has made. It took the red shinigami all his heart and effort to make it, and he is proud of his work. After all, it cost him another witch trial, as those villagers from yesterday saw him cut down a tree and accused him of being a witch again.
Not. Fun.
The leader of the Knights Who Say Ni narrows his eyes, seemingly to be deep in thought.
"Hmm…this is a good shrubbery," he finally says. "I like the design quite a bit and the shrubbery blends in greatly with the forest."
That's because it is from the forest, tee hee!
"But there is one small problem…"
Grell frowns, Ciel's face pales, and Sebastian raises an eyebrow.
"What is the problem?"
"We are no longer the Knights Who Say Ni," the leader explains.
All the knights flinch at the mention of the word 'ni.'
"We are now the Knights Who Say Icky-Icky-Icky-Pong-Tang-Zing-Bang!"
…What?
There are no words to describe the reaction on Grell, Sebastian, and Ciel's faces.
"Therefore, because we have changed cults," the leader continues, "we have a different ritual that needs to be done."
"'Another ritual?'" Sebastian says, trying his best to keep the anger out of his voice. "What more can you possibly want Knights Who…Until Now Said Ni?"
"Many things, demon," the leader replies in a complete serious tone. "First, we request that you get us another shrubbery to go with this one!"
"...Are you kidding me?!" Ciel exclaims, clutching his fists tightly.
"No, we knights are always serious! Shrubberies are serious business!"
The whole cult nods in agreement.
"And when you have gotten the second shrubbery, and make sure the second shrubbery is slightly taller than the first one so they can have levels, with a little path running through them. And after that, you must cut down the largest tree in the forest with..."
He pauses for a long moment.
"...a herring!"
There are loud gasps as from the knights, the leader revealing a small herring from his armor. It smells like it has been dead for weeks, which makes Grell's stomach turn and twist inside of him. Ciel shakes with uncontrollable rage, however Sebastian is the only one who is able to keep his composure.
"I'm afraid that your requests have become far too ridiculous for us to complete," the demon says, the ends of his mouth twitching as he forces a smile. "Therefore we have to do things the hard way, for we will get through this forest."
He turns to Grell.
"Grell, would you like the honor of collecting their long over do souls, since I cannot devour them at the moment?"
Grell blinks, surprised by Sebastian's request, as are the Knights Who Say Ni. But with much eagerness, Grell nods his head and prepares his death scythe. The Knights Who Say Ni flinch back while Sebastian and Ciel take a few steps back. Grell gives a bloodthirsty grin.
"And now to make you dull colored men fabulous, by dyeing you in the most beautiful color in the world! Red!"
