Sebastian stopped short when he spotted Ciel as he emerged from a nondescript building. The demon butler relaxed visibly, as he did not sense any other demonic presences in the area. He ignored Grell, pretending to be unaware of the offended looks the red head was throwing his way. Sebastian frowned a little as he watched Ciel take a few steps forward, toward the coach. Still, if Ciel was in London to see who he thought he was going to see…then why did Ciel look unharmed? Did Undertaker really only have interest in attacking him, a demon, and not Ciel?

Grell wasn't in the best of moods, because a few times on the way to London, Sebastian had nearly dragged him by the chain. The demon had been moving a bit too quickly for him to completely keep up. Not to mention that he was still tired. Grell was therefore relieved when Sebastian slowed down, but could tell that, even though Sebastian's stance had relaxed, that there was something bothering him. It was kind of fascinating to watch, as Grell was used to Sebastian being unflappable, with hardly anything bothering him in the least. Grell smirked a little, "Is your brat doing something he shouldn't be?"

Sebastian slid a glance at Grell, before deciding that the other was likely to notice Undertaker should the mortician choose to show himself, "I believe my young master is impatient about his investigation, and has perhaps gone to seek out Undertaker for advice."

Grell frowned a little, "The ex-reaper is still in London? Wouldn't he have left?" Grell put crossed his arms and huffed irritably, "Why can't I sense his presence? There have been a lot of shinigami looking for him to question him about the Campania incident, but no one can find him."

"You couldn't sense his presence before, so why would that change?" Sebastian responded distractedly, trying to figure out whether to to just step in front of Ciel or wait for him back at the manor. Sebastian figured that Ciel would expect him to notice his absence and come to find him, and it was then that Sebastian spotted Undertaker standing in the doorway to the shop that Ciel had just left. Sebastian began to move forward, his eyes flashing dangerously at the sight of the ex-reaper. So it had been as Sebastian had thought, and his young master had gone to see the Undertaker. Without a word, Sebastian surged forward, Grell hurrying to keep pace with him (as he didn't want to be dragged by the chain, again).

Sebastian loomed before Ciel, and withheld a smile as his sudden appearance had startled his young master. Seeing that Ciel was unharmed, Sebastian considered dealing with Undertaker. After all, he wasn't that far away, as Undertaker was standing in the frame of the doorway. Sebastian found it a bit odd that Undertaker was so at ease. The mortician was grinning, albeit a bit eerily, as his two-toned eyes danced with amusement. What was so funny to the Undertaker soon became clear when Sebastian heard Ciel speak, and the demon realized with a start that the boy wasn't wearing the eye patch.

"Sebastian, this is an order. You are not to physically harm or cause any inconvenience to Undertaker throughout the investigation, nor any time after it is resolved, unless I state otherwise."

Sebastian's eyes flashed again, but decided that becoming upset would only give Ciel satisfaction with the knowledge that what he was doing was causing Sebastian a great disservice to not be able to attack the ex-shinigami. Sebastian's body relaxed, again, and though disappointed, he gave Ciel an approving smile. Even if he didn't care for the order, Sebastian could still appreciate his young master for being so devious.

Ciel offered a tiny smirk in response, "Undertaker will be staying at the manor during the investigation,"

The smile on Sebastian' face froze, and became strained. His young master was a truly devious for his age.

Undertaker, once he had decided that it was safe, came fully out of the shop, closing the door behind him. Undertaker laughed softly into his overlong sleeve, and slid a mischievous look Sebastian's way, "Demons must find it taxing to follow orders while under contract."

Sebastian smiled, though there was soft menace in his words, "Indeed, although normally we don't have to worry about being limited in what we can do, should someone raise our ire." Though Sebastian did not see Undertaker carrying anything on his person, the demon butler didn't doubt that Undertaker could quite easily bring forth his scythe at any time.

Undertaker gave what he must have believed to be an innocent smile, "Who, me? I was merely trying to assist the earl by ridding the world and him of a dangerous beast." Undertaker tilted his head as he studied Sebastian through his long bangs, "Pity I can't do it now, as destroying you without a fight would be rather dull." Undertaker grinned and swept up close to Sebastian, "Besides, for the time being, I believe the fact that other demons might be around will makes things become quite amusing."

Grell took a discreet step away from Sebastian as he sensed that the demon was beginning to let off his demonic aura. Likely due to the fact that Undertaker had dared to come so close to him. Grell even saw Sebastian's hands twitch, as if he longed to lash out at Undertaker but couldn't. Grell was distracted, however, when Undertaker chose to invade his personal space.

"Your face looks like it has healed just fine from that little incident on the ship." Undertaker said with a sly smile.

Grell leaned away from the now leering Undertaker, before the other's words sunk in. Abruptly, Grell stopped leaning away and tensed in the other's direction. The red headed reaper locked eyes with Undertaker, and his deathscythe materialized from thin air. Clutching the chainsaw tightly, Grell growled dangerously at the other being, "I said I won't forgive you for cutting my face." Grell was about to lunge at Undertaker, when Sebastian suddenly grabbed him from behind, and held on tightly, though it was clear from Sebastian's expression that he would have liked to take the deathscythe from Grell and do what the redhead likely wanted to do to Undertaker. Slice him up, a lot.

Sebastian spoke matter of factly as he dragged Grell back a bit, "If I can't harm him, I won't let you get the chance to either." The demon butler shot Undertaker a glare of displeasure, but fell silent and concentrated on holding Grell back, as the red headed shinigami was quite a bit stronger than he looked.

Ciel, despite finding both his butler and Grell entertaining, decided to put an end to the antics for the time being, "Let's head back to the manor for now, and figure out what to do next." Without looking to see if the others were following him, Ciel entered the coach, settling on one side. Sebastian entered soon after, seating himself next to his young master. This meant that Grell had to sit on the opposite side of the coach next to Undertaker, much to Grell's obvious displeasure.

Grell leaned up against the side of the coach to avoid having to bush up against Undertaker, but in doing so, caused the silver chain between himself and Sebastian to appear.

Undertaker's attention was drawn to the chain, and he appeared to be intrigued by it. Then, he promptly found it to be quite hilarious, "Losing you edge, butler?" Undertaker asked teasingly, as the coach rocked slightly, as Snake had just urged the horse into motion.

Ciel quickly stepped in to prevent Sebastian from saying what was sure to be a snappy retort, "If those beings are responsible responsible for the villagers' deaths, would they be able to sense Sebastian if he were to go to those villages to investigate?" Ciel left the question open to be answered by any in the coach. Ciel had also been sure to keep his voice low, as to not let Snake hear him.

Sebastian cast a glance at Grell, before turning back to Ciel, "As we're headed back to the manor, there is something there that Mr. Grell brought in with him that would help me mask my presence." Sebastian didn't elaborate, but Ciel assumed that answered his question of if the demons could sense Sebastian's presence. Ciel was left wondering what Sebastian could be talking about, and why whatever Grell could have brought into the manor that would help a demon. There was a slight pause, before Ciel spoke up in irritation.

"Exactly what kind of things is he bringing in to my manor without my knowledge?"

-x

Back at the manor, Ciel dismissed Snake to go join the other servants to go about their chores.

"See you later," Snake paused, then indicated a snake on his shoulder, "Says Emily." With that, he disappeared around the corner. Ciel, Sebastian and the others were about to continue on, when Bard and Finny poked their heads into the hall, and were about to give voice to what was sure to be some headache inducing idiocy.

Sebastian simply was not in the mood to play patient, understanding butler. One look from the demon butler was more than enough for even Bard to vacate the area to go about his duties. He and Finny could both tell that Sebastian was displeased, but didn't dare voice it aloud until they were sure that Sebastian was out of view and out of ear shot.

In the safety of the kitchen, Bard and Finny let out collective sighs of relief.

"Mr. Sebastian isn't happy today, is he?" Finny questioned, as he lifted a few bags of flour to move to the pantry of the kitchen.

Bard picked up a ladle and waved it through the air, "Who knows what's goin' through that butler's mind. But that's not what's even botherin' me now."

Finny poked his head out of the pantry, "What is?"

Bard pointed to the corner of the kitchen with his ladle at the shamelessly flirting Ronald, "Why the 'ell is he still here? Who is he anyway? Did the young master invite him or somethin'?"

Finny peeked in the direction Bard was pointing, and watched silently as Ronald chattered away at Mey-Rin as he helped her clean the dishes. Mey-Rin wasn't doing too well, as she was blushing at all the attention and compliments, and didn't seem to notice Ronald deftly catching any plates that might have fallen out of her hands.

Finny frowned a little, trying to remember, "Wasn't he the guy we saw when the young master went on that ship?"

Bard shrugged, "I don't care where he came from or where we might have seen him from. He's distracting the little lady, and Sebastian could blame us for it."

Mey-Rin, oblivious to Finny and Bard's conversation, dropped her tenth plate in the last half hour.

Ronald, amused, caught it, and wondered if William would be delayed in getting back. He was having quite a bit of fun after all.

-x

With no more interruptions from the servants, other than some unpleasant, unnamed feeling, Sebastian led the way to the guest room that Grell had been using.

Undertaker settled against a wall, while Ciel sat down in a chair, a little impatient to start investigating the villages. He didn't want to be trying to get information from people in the middle of the night, and didn't want any more delays.

Sebastian crossed the room, and opened the drawer, after first removing the spell he had placed on it. Sebastian withdrew the object, pulling it free of the hand towel. That done, Sebastian turned and took a few steps toward Undertaker, holding out his hand to show the ex-shinigami the device, "This should work well with concealing my presence."

Undertaker's eyes gleamed a little in the gloom of the room, as he took in the object's appearance.

Sebastian offered a thin smile, "Have you seen or heard of this object before? I assume from your expression that you have."

Undertaker returned Sebastian's smile a little hesitantly, his eyes reflecting unease at the sight of the small object in Sebastian's hand, "I have heard of them, though this is the first time seeing one in person. I've heard that they are very rare to find in good condition." Undertaker lapsed into thoughtful silence.

Ciel didn't like not being a part of the conversation, and looked at the gleaming object, "What is it?" It didn't look all that magical, nothing out of the ordinary. If it weren't for the weird symbols and ebony jewel at its center, it almost resembled a compass.

Undertaker turned a smile on Ciel, "It is called a dissimulo vis. Though why the demons didn't just call it an aura concealer, I suppose I won't ever find out. They seem to think that if it has a fancy name, it is worth more than ordinary items. I don't think I'll ever fully understand demon reasoning." Undertaker peered in Sebastian's direction at that, but said demon was pointedly ignoring him. Undertaker snickered at this.

Sebastian studied the object, also ignoring Grell, who was peering over his shoulder at it curiously. Sebastian glanced over at Ciel briefly, "Like Undertaker said, it can conceal the auras of demons. It is meant to hide or conceal our power or energy, as the name indicates, and it can be very useful to demons if used correctly." Sebastian rested a thumb over the ebony jewel at the device's center, which caused the symbols on the face of the object to glow. After a few murmured words, and a careful inspection of the object, Sebastian pocketed it.

Undertaker relaxed visibly, and let out a chuckle at the look that Grell threw Sebastian, as the red head's brow had furrowed in confusion. Undertaker spoke after a few more chuckles, "That device can conceal a demon's presence, remember? It can even hide a group of demons if it is used on another setting, with different commands."

"It can be used in numerous ways, depending on the spells used." A faintly irritated look passed over Sebastian's face, before it settled for a look of exasperation, "That's why there aren't many of them left. The younger demons tend to put them on an unstable setting, which then causes the device to deteriorate until it becomes unusable."

"If a demon knows how to manipulate it correctly, it could also be used to strip away whatever kind of concealment an individual may be using to hide their presence," Undertaker chimed in, seeming to take pleasure in interrupting Sebastian, as evidenced on the look that appeared on Sebastian's face.

Ciel assumed that this meant that Undertaker had been wary about Sebastian using the device on him, until Sebastian merely used it on himself. Ciel didn't know why it mattered, because Undertaker seemed to mask himself just fine, as far as Ciel could tell, anyway, and the earl somehow doubted that any demonically made device would have any effect on Undertaker whatsoever. Meaning that the hesitation and unease had been an act, perhaps for Sebastian, and Ciel decided to keep that in mind for the future, so he could question the ex-shinigami about it.

Grell was still trying to get over the fact that he couldn't sense Sebastian's presence at all, "That's bizarre, Sebas-chan. I can't sense you at all and you're right here." Grell smirked and inched over to Sebastian, where he coyly wrapped his arms around one of Sebastian's, "I suppose I'll just have to hold on to you so that I don't lose track of you." Grell was completely ignoring the fact that Sebastian couldn't get more than four feet away from him before the chain would appear, due to the spell used on them.

Undertaker laughed at the sight, and Sebastian's obvious discomfort, before directing his next statement to Grell, "I can't sense your presence either. The butler extended the effects to you as well."

"Oh, so you want us to be alone together, our presences masked, so we can do something…promiscuous together?" Grell was thrown to the ground, but didn't seem to care, as he was highly amused that Sebastian had stumbled slightly due to the chain. Grinning, Grell gave the chain a tug, overbalancing Sebastian and causing him to end up on the ground as well.

Ciel sighed at the sight of Sebastian fending Grell off on the ground, while Undertaker giggled at the sight, highly entertained and hoping this would happen often while he was there. Ciel shook his head again, "Let's just go to the villages before it gets too late. I'd like to learn something new before I have to go to bed." Ciel was taken aback as Sebastian was immediately at his side and scooping him up easily into his arms. Ciel let out an indignant gasp as he wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck to not be jostled around too much, "What are you doing?"

"It will be faster to take you to the villages myself. The carriage will take longer." Sebastian glanced over at Undertaker and Grell, "Besides, they are more than capable of keeping up with me." Sebastian turned back to Ciel with a close eyed smile, "You wanted to finish this before your bedtime? Shall we be leaving now then, young master?"

Ciel, deciding that Sebastian wasn't about to drop him, crossed his arms sulkily before nodding, "Yes, let's get going." He wasn't going to give Sebastian the satisfaction of knowing that it made him jump slightly when he just suddenly there like that. Ciel frowned a little, and then decided that Sebastian would notice little twitches like that, and therefore already knew. Ciel peeked up at his butler out of the corner of his eye.

Sebastian offered a tiny smirk to his young master, as he left the manor. Grell followed close behind, with Undertaker trailing along after them all, still grinning like he was having the most wonderful time of his life.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The chapter tones will kind of bounce back and forth. This one is more of an info dump. I hope as the chapters go by that I'll be able to still keep it as IC as possible.

And I picked Latin words for the object because I like to think that demons are arrogant bastards and like to come up with weird names for devices/etc. that they make. Basically the item is an aura concealer, among other things, but that doesn't sound nearly as interesting. I believe dissimulo could mean to hide or to conceal, and vis could be strength, power. Not that the name matters-I just wanted to call it something other than the object/device all the time.