It had been over a week since Aeslin took her leave. Ciel and Sebastian made way this night from a case they'd at last managed to close that dragged on for a couple of days. Ever since she had left, things were beginning to get rather strange, the case they'd worked on seemed suspiciously tied to those dark entities that were after her while she was around. 'Surely this can't mean she's left for good...?' Ciel wondered, his blue eyes gazing out of the carriage window as they neared home, fingers rolled against his cheek. 'She still has a duty here...I don't see why she'd just drop it all.' That was strange to him, though he felt a pang of guilt. Ciel for one knew Aeslin had not been as unfeeling as she led on. He remembered the shock that fizzled in her usual calm aura when he asked for her to take the moonstone back from him. All he could think now was that he must have hurt her by doing that, but at the same time he was still refusing to fully believe anything was blossoming between them. He sighed faintly.
"Is everything all right, my Lord...?" Sebastian turned to glance to him from across his carriage seat, a slight frown about him. Ever since Aeslin had vanished, his Lord seemed rather distracted; as if he was having some inner struggle he would not voice that just dragged on and on.
"Yes," Ciel sent on after a moment. "Perfectly," he muttered, gaze stuck upon the window.
"Hmm," Sebastian quirked a brow faintly. "Though I presume I am not the only one concerned about how that all panned out. These dark creatures very well might still be pulling their little strings, you know..."
"I thought things seemed to be getting a little questionable, no doubt," Ciel affirmed, looking to his butler. "Whatever it is, they seem to be trying to be more discreet about it..." Either way, it was a concern that those events might still be happening in the shadows
As Ciel and Sebastian walked inside, they were greeted by all three servants bellowing and sobbing loudly.
"What is it?" Ciel asked, already feeling the tresses of a headache nagging at him.
"M-M-Miss Aeslin is gooone!" They lamented in unison, clinging to Ciel.
"Why did you ever send her off?" Finnian blubbered.
"We know you likely have your reasons, sire, but she was becoming part of the family, yes she was!" a teary-eyed Mey Rin added.
"Yeah, that's right!" Bard concurred. They all recalled the times that spanned over the month Aeslin had been around; her helping in the garden with Finny, or with the laundry aside Mey Rin, or heading off to get food supplies for Bard lightning-fast like she always managed to do. They missed the times even when her eyebrow twitched in aggravation or the other rare times her temper blazed and she grew as frightening as Sebastian. They'd especially missed how kind she was beneath it all, when she'd heal their inevitable bumps and bruises.
"Oh, for goodness sake you three have been blubbering over this for a week now. What's done is done," Ciel sent on, his tone oddly solemn as he attempted to wiggle out of their grasp.
"How can you say that?!" Mey Rin countered, gasping in dismay as she unlatched from Ciel.
"Yeah, with how you've been moping around, I'd even suggest you miss 'er, too," Bard teased, crossing his arms and smirking a bit. Sebastian grinned a cat like grin as Ciel deadpanned and flicked his gaze away.
"What a silly suggestion, I was the one to send her off, anyway," Ciel muttered as he turned away from them.
"Why'd you do it, sir?" Finnian asked softly, wiping his tears away and looking after Ciel. He had been so vague about it all, never having given anyone an explanation at all.
"Her time with us is done. That's all," Ciel said in a quiet voice as he ventured off down the hall. The three servants looked to Sebastian in a way that pried, as if he knew the answer to this.
Sebastian rose his hands in defense. "I've been kept out of the dark as much as you all have," he insisted, though in truth he did have some feeling that his Lord was harboring affections for the demigod. Now however it seemed his Lord was playing things safe, Sebastian chalking things up to him parting ways with her so that her being present would not cause him any confusion.
Later, close to late afternoon, a letter turned up from the Queen and Sebastian headed over to his Lord's study to deliver it. Blue eyes scanned over the document.
"It looks like we'll need to be heading out again. It seems that the murder of Roderick Herald is being investigated and we've been asked to take action immediately."
"Roderick Herald," Sebastian sent on, mulling over the name a moment as he got his Lord's coat on for him. "He is the owner of Herlad's Gift Shop, I presume?"
"That's right. The good news about this one is that it should be relatively short, clues have already piled up pointing to the culprit. It all seems to be normal, thankfully."
"It would be a pity to have to deal with any dark beings," Sebastian agreed as they made way for the door.
Soon, the pair pulled forth in their carriage before a sizable home; something akin to a manor though scaled down in comparison to their own. The lights were on inside, a few people visible in the window as Ciel headed to the front door to knock.
"Ah, the Earl is here to investigate the matter further," the older man that answered announced to the others in the home, before turning to the pair before him and adding in a hushed voice, "the investigators they've dispatched are utterly hopeless. Please, do come in," allowing them inside of the home, he then shook Ciel's hand. "It is an honor to meet you, dispite the circumstances. My name is Ruben Herald, Roderick's father. Let's head to the living area," he led them along to the large space where other family members and friends were flocked, clamoring softly and some sobbing, mourning the death of Roderick.
Ciel went on to speak to the investigators and some of the others present, while Sebastian kept an eye on things. One maid in a tan and white uniform was there was well, standing in one section of the living area with her hands clasped together, her brown eyes fixed onto the floor. Sebastian's eyes narrowed the faintest bit at the sight of her... noting how she seemed to have an aura he could not properly place. Soon, his Lord caught his attention as he emerged from the small crowd. "Come, Sebastian, we'll need to do some digging. We'll return shortly," he called out to the others.
The maid turned robotically to them, smiling a disingenuine smile. "Thank you for your help. Please, do return shortly," she sent on quietly.
The duo went out for an hour or so to do some closer investigation with some witnesses, before they were able to pin the culprit; some scraggler desperate to overthrow the company and somehow make it his own. "Honestly this is just embarrassing," Ciel muttered as the culprit was driven away in the police car. "Really, his methods were sloppy and ridiculous. Such a waste of time. At least it was an easy catch," Ciel sighed as he and Sebastian made way back the Herald's household.
"Thankfully, that all went rather smoothly," Sebastian sent on with a slight grin on his face. Roderick's wife sighed in relief at the news, placing a hand on Ciel's shoulder.
"Oh, thank the stars. This has been such a heartbreak," Claudia Herald said to the Earl, voice thick as tears threatened to jump out of her again. "Though it is a relief knowing that man who is responsible has been taken in. Thank you so much!" she leaned to then squeeze Ciel into a tight hug, squishing him and rendering it difficult to breathe.
"It's what we do, after all," Ciel rasped, gasping for air as Claudia freed him.
As they said their goodbyes, the housemaid saw them outside, stopping Ciel abruptly in the patio, pinning him with great power against one of the patio pillars. Sebastian's red gaze flicked over instantly.
"What are you doing?!" Ciel gasped, entirely caught off guard. His eyes went wide as he looked back into the maid's, her own eyes riddled with unmistakable evil.
"Tell me where the demigod is!" The maid demanded, voice deep and sinister. "Now!" A hand raked toward his neck, to which Sebastian interjected, sending the maid sailing off and into a tree with a powerfull kick. Sebastian then scooped up his Lord and shifted to the carriage in a blur. Soon they were speeding along, leaving the maid behind. Ciel glanced out of the carriage window, sighing in relief as he noted that they'd thankfully managed to lose her. Even so, Sebastian urged to horses to haul the carriage as fast as they could, as he felt the dark energy surging swiftly behind.
He moved when he saw the entity lunging toward the carriage, though he had not been quick enough to stop it from sending the carriage clattering to the ground and then edging down a steep hill at the side of their path in the woods. "Lord Phantomtive!" Sebastian called out in horror as he lurched after the tumbling carriage, managing to hook himself between a tree branch and the broken carriage, his hand desperately holding onto it to avoid it falling any further. Hearing a hiss from the dark being, he moved quickly then, holding the broken carriage in his hands and allowing himself to drop to the ground safely with it. Then, he peered inside. Ciel lay unconscious, blood trailing from his temple where he hit his head against the glass. Sebastian was then moving to grab him though was knocked away from the carriage so quickly it rendered the demon dizzy.
"Such pesky creatures," Sebastian hissed through his teeth, rising to his feet as he surged back toward the being; a sinister looking shadow creature with sharp teeth and red eyes. Sebastian then sent his fist as hard as he could into it, sending the creature flying into a tree, breaking it in half and then vanishing into the ground. Though, it's energy was still present. Sebastian lifted Ciel then out of the carriage.
"I know you are still connected to her, where is she?!" The creature demanded harshly.
"In fact, we have no idea where she has gone," Sebastian called out to. "You're efforts are meaningless," he darted off then in a black blur, through the woods and towards town. Ciel came to as cool air was rushing past his face, glancing up to Sebastian who stared dead ahead. He noted the blood on his coat and gasped.
"Sebastian, what happened?" Ciel asked in dismay.
"A dark being is after us. Well, after you, rather," he clarified, thin brows furrowed over his red eyes as he focused on finding the quickest path back home.
"What-? Why?" Ciel questioned, though was being knocked about all over again. The entity drew up before them, sending Ciel skidding across the ground in a barren alleyway, while Sebastian was sent into the wall by a second entity that appeared. The one that had been possessing the maid previously pinned Ciel to the ground, raising it's hand above it's head and morphing it into a spear-like weapon.
"Tell me where she is!" It demanded again, Ciel's heart jumping as Sebastian wailed, the second being driving it's claws into his stomach. Dread was filling him, unlike ever before. He was rendered speechless, blue eyes wide. And just as the creature above him moved to drive it's spear into him, it knocked clean off of something, a clattering sound ringing in Ciel's ears. His eyes had squeezed shut instinctively, as he braced for his death. Teeth gnashed together, and when the entity gave a cackle, he looked hastily up.
"A... Aeslin?" Ciel managed, his mind spinning madly. There she stood, between the two creatures, both arms extended towards each. She was clad in black as she often was, in her long tapered coat, though her hair lay loose around her shoulders, blowing gently in the air. One hand curled slightly upwards as she bound the creature upon Sebastian, her other forming an almost invisible sheild that had stopped the other being from killing Ciel. Ciel's mouth lay open, he thought she'd left for good...
The sinister creature cackled again, turning it's attention to Aeslin who spun to face it as it rushed at her. They collided, Aeslin's glowing staff clashing against the dark being's spear. "It's our lucky day, you're just the girl we've been looking for!" the being said in a distorted voice, a wide grin stretching it's mouth.
Aeslin merely gritted her teeth, flinging the creature away and into the wall a few feet from Sebastian. The butler stirred, his blurred vision shifted around as he heard something going on, eyes turning slowly to his stomach where a familiar glow emitted. Grunting, he looked over to see just who he expected may be the one healing him right then, facing off with a dark being. He moved away from the one bound near him as soon as he could manage it, pulling Ciel away a bit as Aeslin saw to the other.
"We ought to get you somewhere safe," the butler sent on.
"No," Ciel objected, perhaps a little too suddenly. "I mean," he squeezed his eyes shut, frustrated. "Yes, I know we should. But I need to see this," he looked back over the fight drawing on between Aeslin and the dark being.
"You're making this rather difficult," Aeslin sent on, annoyed as she skidding across the floor after the being landed a hit upon her. "The last thing we need to be doing is making a scene."
"As if I care about all of that!" The being cackled madly. "Really, you Gods are always so safe about everything. I can't wait to tear you apart, then master will at last be able to take this wretched city...!" While the being was busy taunting her, Aeslin motioned with one hand and formed a portal to the dark realm and sent the bound being into it in a flash. The other one was moving before she could bindd it as well however, to which Aeslin sent forth a series of energy blasts crashing into the side of the alley way. Aeslin snarled, her temper getting the better of her the more this fight drew on.
"I wouldn't say we're always safe," Aeslin smirked faintly before tuning into those still present. "Sheild your eyes," she called to them before holding her hand out and emitting an intensely bright light. Energy flowed around them all, the sensation of it odd; powerful yet subtle. The brighter it grew, the more the dark entity shrieked and writhed. As the light died off, Aeslin swiftly bound the creature and hauled him into the portal. She huffed then, straightening her jacket and making way past Sebastian and Ciel.