Her nimble feet scaled the walls and she swung her foot cleanly and sharply down into the face below her, and she continued on her mission as she heard the satisfying crunch of a body falling two stories. Her heel was a bit bloody as she stepped back on the roof and strong arms of Finny pulled her up the last bit. She flashed him a smile and he giggled a bit too menacing; they all were unlocking their hidden sides tonight.
"The young master?"
"In the basement with Tanaka."
She nodded and they tore down the East wing, Finny throwing marble statues and explosives off the sides, grinning as the screams of the wounded were floating up instead of their bodies. She turned and fired her gun, the weapons Sebastian had left, being light and quick to respond to her sure touch. It was like they were extensions of her, so beautifully carved and yet so deadly when backed into a corner. She never aimed and fired unless she needed to, and as she leaned over the low wall of the roof, she meant to take out the two leering demons that were crawling up the side, by the master's bedroom. Of all improper things! A Reaper with bright red hair and a grin swept around her and she heard the whirling of his chain-saw as it sliced the demons, releasing some sort of mist that the man then grabbed and crushed in his gloved hand.
"Thank you! I needed that one!"
She nodded and turned, startled to see a young woman crushing another demon in her hands. Their eyes met and Mey-Rin hesitated to point her gun, even as the other one smiled.
"You must be Mey-Rin."
She nodded and eyed the other woman.
"They are coming with Sebastian, you ready with your weapon?" she asked nodding to the gun in Mey-Rin's hand.
"I was born ready for this moment."
"A woman who has much to loose like I do. I have a human lover as well; he is why I fight. So many of us love humans for the emotions you give us. Otherwise, well," she shrugged and looked down over the wall. "We would be starving for souls as those who we once were, are now doing. Pity they never will know how beautiful love is."
And she leaped so gracefully Mey-Rin wondered how she didn't have wings, and then suddenly she was smoke, a pure black, and spread out and devoured the demons they had watched battle two Reapers. She was kneeling and licking her lips as she swing around and looked back at Mey-Rin. The Reapers crushed the vapors of the demons and turned to the next band of demons who were racing for the Manor, on the ground, far below, but still so close.
"Love," Mey-Rin muttered. "Is that all one needs to destroy a demon?"
She scanned the light sky, calm above but for the chaos now below her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned. Bard had two bullet carriers strapped around him and a machine gun on his shoulder. He chuckled as he looked around.
"I miss the battle field when we are doing the slaughtering."
"I miss scoping the kill and knowing the satisfaction of another corrupt man is going to his grave."
The two looked at each other for a moment. "And you are a maid."
"And you claim to be a cook."
"I'll torch a pig for you if you want. A celebration of getting through this bloody mess."
"A pig?"
"Or a goat, I'm not picky when it comes to flame-throwers and food."
"I could eat anything you put in front of me, even if it's burnt to a crisp."
"There is a stash of apples on the main floor. Go, you eat, get some moment of peace in this. We got this," he added, nodding to the two demons who were helping, materialized behind him and twisted another body off the roof. "If I see him…"
"I know," she said. "I'll be back."
He nodded and she took off for the roof entrance and down the servants stairs, swinging open the door on the main floor cautiously; nothing had breeched the entry of the Manor, yet she still was tense. Demons had seemed to pour over the walls of the grounds, some getting caught in the hidden mines in the forest, others seemed to slither around on the wind, dropping into a more solid form all around. But they had an army of other beings. The Undertaker, for his eccentric ways, his cryptic messages, had brought fighters, had brought those who wished to defend freedom… or simply were tired of the 'family' as so many said, in a spat, as if the word - the meaning of it how Sebastian had used it for the underground - was dirty and perverted. She glanced out the sides of the doorway on the main floor, her fingers digging into the wooden arch and went to the table that they had set up as a meeting point and for food. She stilled; something moved around her.
"Don't be alarmed, my dear," a voice said as thick fog seemed to gather and envelop her. "I had to get away quick and I was rather hurt in the process."
"Sebastian?" she whispered as the darkness seemed to collide and struggle to form into a shape. And then, as if by sheer force of will - either by her speaking his name, or him doing it himself - Sebastian was laying on the floor, crumpled and naked.
She gasped, seeing his skin, the lashes and the bruises, and… she turned away and ran to the nearest room, the library, and pulled a blanket from the nearby chair and quickly threw it on him. She knelt down and gasped as she pushed back his hair, still long, and black, but the pale face of her heart was was paler and clammy. His skin so cold and she bent down to feel under his nose, over his pale lips that breath was even coming out.
"He doesn't need to breath."
She started and looked at the Earl.
"He is a demon. Demons don't need breath, sleep, or food. They need only the basic things that a demon needs - a contract and greedy soul." He slipped off his eye patch and Mey-Rin watched as it fell on the floor and flicked her eyes back up to the master. He pushed his hair away and she flinched a bit at the right eye that Sebastian had said in his diary he took out of greed, spite, and jealous longing. It glowed a low blue, but it wasn't pure, it was laced with something else, glowing brighter as he looked over Sebastian, even as his left, good eye glowed blue. He knelt down beside her, holding her gaze. "It's a wondrous thing that he took and gave. A visible place and a strong bond. Even enough to revive him, I suppose." He looked down and smiled slightly. "Common now, Sebastian. Be a good dog and get up. Your master is calling."
Mey-Rin watched as the master leaned over and hissed his command into his butlers ear. Her heart thudded as he narrowed his eyes and rolled the pale body of Sebastian over. He shook the limp body and Mey-Rin stifled a cry as his head lobbed back.
"Common! You want me - you want my greedy soul! You… need me! I need you! I need you!"
Mey-Rin pulled the young man, now screaming at the limp body, off him and away. She pulled him into her arms and she pulled his head on her shoulder, shielding him from the obvious dead body of the man they both loved.
"He did the best he could… maybe… maybe he needs rest," she muttered into his hair, her sight blurring even as she said it. "Please, master, you need to go back below and go back to safety. That is what Mister Sebastian would want. You need to remember he traded something to get you here. Please, please, Earl Phantomhive, don't make that sacrifice in vain. Get down to the cellar and don't come back out," she said, the force in her voice making him still as she held his head and stared into his eyes, one scared and the other full of pain. "Please. Go."
And he stumbled up and walked slowly to the door, Tanaka nodded and wrapped a coat around the shivering man who was almost instantly transformed back into a small boy. As the door closed she turned back to the crumpled body and crawled to Sebastian, her hands gripping his legs, still feeling powerful, his arms, resting across his chest, strong and firm. And she moved over him, cradling his body and bend down, her tears pouring over her cheeks. She heard so many things: the rapid fire of guns, the explosives, the yells, and the windows rattled. She closed her eyes and bent over the broken body of her strong man who had finally took her heart in his hands and cradled it as if it was precious. A gift she never gave anyone. And in return, she would not accept the broken body of a man whose travels and adventures he had trusted her eyes to read. The thousands of people who he had met, the few who had touched him. The times he had escaped, and those he placed in danger. This was not how a strong man like that would go.
She pressed her lips to his forehead. To his cheek. To his lips. She pushed her breath into him and willed him to kiss her back. Willed his arms to embrace her. The window shattered and she jerked up, pulling him towards her, protecting him as she had done the young master. She blinked and focused on the small shards of glass that now littered the front hall.
"That will not do, at all. I swept this place - I polished this floor! I cleaned this house to make it perfect!" She surged up and dragged her fine dress up around her, and stepped over the broken body of Sebastian. She kicked the glass away, grabbing the boxed food and covered dishes and walked them to a farther table. There was a surge of strength as she walked back, kicking the glass away and flipped the table, protecting the broken butler who still had not moved.
"You better be healing," she growled as she dragged him, tucking the blanket around him as best as she could. "Because if you came in here to die in front of me, I will take that sword you gave me and plunge it into your cold, dead, demonic heart. Don't die - bastard. Don't. You. Be. Dead."
There was a light that surged and Mey-Rin fell forward, over his chest, over his face, her hands over his head, her nose brushing his, her eyes closed and her heart screaming. She felt a hand on her back and flip her over, and she screamed, opened her eyes and stared into the most lovely red eyes she had ever seen.
"Oh dear, that took longer than I had anticipated. And I seem to have scared you more than I had planned."
She blinked and beat on his chest. "You bastard! You were dead! You were playing dead! You hurt the young master! Oh dear gods above you are a horrible… horrible-"
"Demon? Yes, I know." He held her close and she could smell his flesh as he sighed into her ear. "I am sorry for that. All of the time I spent away, making you worry. I had to send the young master back before I could escape, assure he would be out of the way from my family - they desire too much, demand too much." He pulled back and smiled a bit. "But I desire and demand more."
Mey-Rin licked her lips and shut her eyes as another flash lit up the grand hall. She felt his hands on her head and pulled her closer to his chest. She opened her eyes and saw his naked milky throat close to her mouth and saw him move as he took a breath, heard his heart beating deep in his strong body. She reached up and embraced him and kissed him lightly, making him curl and look down, his eyes lighting up as he dragged her lips up to his. It was as if their own moment sheltered them from the outside world, the outside battle. In her heart, as he dragged her closer and deeper into his body, there was nothing going on but the two of them. She had won - her lover, her heart, her body, her soul, was hers and his as needed. And Sebastian was back where he needed to be. In the Phantomhive Manor. Near the young master. Near all those who loved him. And most importantly, in her arms.