After a few hours of walking, the four all finally find their way out of the forest. Ciel is in the front of the group, anxiety rising up within him as the clear fading sunlight hits his face.
Now that they are out of the forest, what sort of dangers will he be forced to face? With talk of this mysterious Bridge of Death, and the still unknown dreaded monster that keeps guard of the grail, what more is there to face? The Knights Who Say Ni were challenging enough, as well as insane, making it impossible for Ciel to picture anything worse.
"Are you doing alright, young master?" Sebastian suddenly asks as he walks next to Ciel, forcing the earl out of his thoughts. "We have been walking for a long time now."
Ciel growls.
"I'm fine, Sebastian. And I'll be even better once we find the holy grail."
He pauses for a slight second.
"...Are you wanting to stop so Grell will stop nagging you?"
A small smile appears on Sebastian's face.
"Actually, he's been clinging to the Undertaker ever since he showed is face. Grell has yet to bother me because of that, which I can say I'm grateful for."
Ciel nods, glancing behind to see that the Undertaker and Grell are slowly following them, Grell really slowing the Undertaker down as he tries to flirt with him.
"Young master, if you do feel the need to rest, we will," Sebastian says. "Don't feel like you need to push yourself too much."
Ciel keeps his eyes in front of him.
"There is no need to worry about me. Besides...I rather not let my guard down."
Sebastian blinks, but he slowly seems to get Ciel's meaning.
"I see...you feel the same as I do, then?" the demon asks.
"I know he knows more than what he's been letting on," Ciel explains, lowering his voice. "But whether or not he is misleading us or not, I cannot tell."
"If he is trying to put us endanger, he doesn't seem to act like it," Sebastian comments thoughtfully. "He did save us from the knights, not to mentioned saved you and Grell from the witch trial, and then myself from the light magic. If he just simply wanted to get rid of us, he would, or could have, done so already."
His eyes darken.
"However, he could just be luring us to the real threat, the one that has prevented the holy grail from being found for centuries."
"Like the beast who guards it?" Ciel suggests.
"Or the Bridge of Death," Sebastian adds.
They both stay silent, a million questions going through their minds with little answers to give. Eventually, the group find themselves on unnatural rocky terrain, with large boulders scattered all over the place. In the distance, Ciel can see an underground cave starting to take form.
That must be the cave where the holy grail is!
"He he he! It appears we have finally reached the cave, milord."
Ciel and Sebastian stop and turn to face the Undertaker, in which Grell is still holding onto his arm. The Undertaker gives a crooked smile.
"Once you step inside that cave, your mind will be tested to its limits," he says. "The Knights Who Say Ni were just the beginning. At this point, you will either succeed or fail, just like all the others."
His smile grows.
"Can you handle the challenge, milord? Perhaps it may be better, for your health's sake, to turn back and forget this quest."
Ciel narrows his eyes.
"I will not turn back. I have come too far to even think about giving up."
The Undertaker laughs softly.
"Brave, indeed...but also foolish. A human like yourself could never dream of what awaits you."
"And a shinigami can?"
There is a small silence. A sinister look appears in the Undertaker's eyes.
"...A shinigami with much experience."
Grell gives a puzzled look. "What do you mean by that?"
Undertaker glances down at him.
"He he he, you are far too young to understand what I mean. Nor are you powerful enough to survive on your own."
He turns his gaze to Sebastian.
"Any of you."
Getting out of Grell's grip, the Undertaker walks past Sebastian and Ciel.
"Stick close and follow me. Wouldn't want one of you to get lost..."
The older grim reaper giggles softly. Ciel and Sebastian give each other suspicious looks, but say nothing out loud. Though Ciel knew they had to have their guard up, for going against each other now would ultimately do them harm.
And if he is up to something, I want to keep him close so I can keep an eye on him.
With the Undertaker in the lead, Ciel, Sebastian, and Grell head inside the cave. The cave itself is very dark and closed in, human skeletons and bones scattered all over the place. The air in the cave is very cold and damp, Ciel able to feel the moister in the air as he breathes.
"Oh my God, is there no light in this cave?!" Grell whines as he bumps blindly into Sebastian several times. "I'm going to trip over something and scratch up my face if I have to keep walking blindly!"
"Will you stop your complaining," Sebastian says with a heavy sigh. "We don't have a torch so there isn't much we can do."
Grell sobs. "But Bassy!"
Sebastian groans, making the Undertaker chuckle.
"There should be a torch we can use somewhere," he says smiling. "Many adventurers have made their way in here. Perhaps we can get a torch from one of the corpses."
No one makes a comment to that.
Soon, the group finds themselves entering a small room within the cave. Once they take their first step inside, it triggers the many torches attached to the walls to catch fire, illuminating the entire room. Grell cries out a tiny bit and hangs on tightly to Sebastian's arm. Ciel looks around the room.
"What caused the torches to light up?" he asks to no one in particular.
"Magic is my best guess," the Undertaker answers. "Like I said earlier, the real fun has only just begun."
His smile grows as his eyes move towards the furthest wall.
"My, my! That looks interesting...he he he..."
He walks over to the wall and studies it, Sebastian, Grell, and Ciel coming to his side. Ciel looks up at the wall, seeing that it has been carved into, having a message. However, he does not recognize the language in which it has been written in. Grell brings himself closer to the wall.
"...Wow, did the guy who wrote this have terrible handwriting," the red reaper says with critical tone. "I mean, look how it just drags down towards the end."
"Can any of you guys read it?" Ciel asks.
"I can," Sebastian replies.
He clears his throat.
"It says, 'He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aughhh...'"
There is a long moment of silence. The Undertaker's lips twitch, until he finally loses it, laughing so hard that he falls onto the floor. Ciel's eye twitches.
"...Sebastian, this isn't funny," the earl says in a low voice. "What does it say?!"
"I told you, my lord," Sebastian replies calmly. "It really does say 'The Castle of Aughhh.'"
"Why would the person who wrote it say 'aughhh?'" Ciel demands, losing his patience. "I've heard no such castle call that!"
"Maybe he died while writing it?" Grell suggests.
"'Died while writing it!'"
The Undertaker laughs even harder, gasping desperately for air.
"I highly doubt that," Sebastian points out. "If whoever wrote was truly dying, they wouldn't bother to carve out 'aughhh.' They would just say it as they died horribly."
Grell crosses his arms. "Then why else would it be there?"
Sebastian shrugs his shoulders. "...I don't know. Maybe he just felt like pulling a practical joke."
"In a place like this, where danger could be anywhere, you would take the time to pull out a prank?"
"Why not? Lots of humans have twisted senses of humor."
"...You have a point there, but still, it is kind of dumb."
Grell and Sebastian start to debate over the writing while the Undertaker continues to be in his laughing fit. Ciel face palms and steps away from the wall, not wanting to center himself anymore with such idiocy. He looks around the cave, trying to see where they need to go next. There are many other tunnels, and only God knows where they lead to.
If only those three would stop fooling around!
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Ciel sees some movement coming from one of the other tunnels. Ciel's eyes grow wide, staring down the tunnel as he knows something is making its way closer and closer to them.
"...Sebastian," Ciel says softly. "Sebastian, get yourself over here."
"Yes, my lord?"
Sebastian quickly moves to his master side, Grell also listening in. The Undertaker even stops his laughing to the serious tone in Ciel's voice. Without even needing to be told what is going on, Sebastian sees the shadow of a deformed monster being cast onto the wall. Sebastian moves Ciel behind him, signaling to both Undertaker and Grell to get their death scythes ready. Soon, the shadow becomes smaller and smaller, and the monster makes its way into the light. Grell's eyes widen.
"Is that...?"
He stops in mid question as the creature turns out to be a small, fluffy, adorable white rabbit. The four of them stare at the rabbit as the rabbit stares back.
"...Um, are we going to do something about the rabbit or what?" Grell finally asks.
"...I don't know," Sebastian answers. "Something doesn't feel right about this rabbit...I can sense evil from it."
Grell narrows his eyes.
"Are you kidding me? It's a freaken bunny!"
"Yes, but not all things are what they appear to be," the Undertaker says solemnly.
Ciel takes a step back. Grell rolls his eyes.
"Are you guys really being cautious about a cute little bunny rabbit? That is sad!"
He activates his death scythe.
"One rabbit stew, coming up!"
Sebastian's eyes widen.
"Grell, no!"
But it is too late, for Grell has already started to attack. As he makes his move, the rabbit opens it mouth to reveal tiny sharp fangs. Squeaking, it leaps up at Grell and bites down at his shoulder. Shocked, Grell screams at the top of his lungs, the rabbit digging its fangs into his skin.
Ciel gasps and Sebastian quickly rushes to Grell's side to get the rabbit off of him. Blood pours out of Grell's shoulder, him hyperventilating from the shock. When Sebastian gets the rabbit off of Grell, the Undertaker comes up to it and quickly stabs it with his scythe. He stabs the rabbit in the heart, however, no blood or trace of a cinematic record comes out. In fact it does not even seem to be effected by it, as the rabbit squeaks and squirms until it gets itself out of the blade of the death scythe. The Undertaker's eyes widen and the rabbit leaps up to attack him. It aims its attack at the Undertaker's face, but he is able to block it with his death scythe, forcing the rabbit to fall back.
"The death scythes won't have any effect on it," the Undertaker says with nervous laughter. "Might I suggest that we run away now?"
"Agreed," Sebastian replies.
Quickly picking up Ciel, Sebastian, Undertaker, and a screaming Grell run out of the cave, the rabbit being close behind them. Once they reach the outside, Sebastian quickly gets Ciel to safety. The Undertaker fights off the rabbit the best he can to distract it. Grell, covering his wounded shoulder with his hand, cries in pain as he hides next to Sebastian.
"What are we going to do?" Ciel demands as he watches the fight scene between the Undertaker and the rabbit. "If that rabbit isn't affected by a death scythe, how are we going to kill it?"
"I don't know, my lord, but we will find a way," Sebastian says. "I just hope Undertaker can distract it long enough for us to come up with a plan."
He feels Grell hold on to him tightly and he glares down at him.
"Shouldn't you help fight?" Sebastian questions coldly.
Grell sobs.
"That bloody rabbit tried to kill me!" he exclaims, his voice cracking. "There is no way I'm going down there!"
"Grell, that isn't even that bad of a wound," Sebastian says.
"Yes it is! Look at all the blood! And it hurts!"
He shows him the wound, in which Sebastian just rolls his eyes.
"You chopped up all those women back when you were Jack the Ripper, and now just the sight of your own blood is making you squirm like a little girl? Pathetic."
At that moment, the Undertaker joins them, panting heavily as his clothes are now stained with blood. He smiles.
"There is no doubt about it, that rabbit is dynamite!" he says with small laughs. "And he is not showing any signs of surrendering..."
The rabbit glares at them from a distance, as if taunting them to come back and attack.
"So is there no way for us to kill it?" Ciel asks, his eyes never leaving the rabbit.
Is this really going to cause the end of their journey, just one seemingly murderous rabbit? How would the earl explain that to the queen?
My reputation is ruined...
Undertaker chuckles softly.
"Not quite, milord. A normal death scythe doesn't seem to affect the devious little creature. But that doesn't mean that nothing will work..."
From the many pockets in his robe, the Undertaker takes out a golden ball with a small cross on top of it. Ciel, Sebastian, and Grell give blank stares. The Undertaker smiles.
"Be hold, deus ex machina!"
He takes the cross out of the ball and throws it straight at the rabbit. Sebastian raises an eyebrow.
"What the-"
He is cut off as the moment the ball hits the ground, it explodes. Everyone quickly takes cover from the blast, and once the smoke clears, everyone looks to see that the rabbit is gone, most likely killed from the explosion. Ciel, Sebastian, and Grell all stare at the Undertaker in pure shock.
"...What...what did you do?" Ciel questions.
The Undertaker smiles.
"He he he, I just used this experimental death scythe I've been working on. It has ten times the power of a normal death scythe and is very lethal. However...it explodes, so one cannot use it often."
"'Experimental death scythe?!'" Grell exclaims. "How were you able to convince the higher officials to allow you to make experimental death scythes without their authority?!"
"That's a secret," the Undertaker replies, clearly amused. "Perhaps when you retire from service, I'll teach you a few tricks, he he he..."
Grell says nothing in reply, only staring at the Undertaker like his is crazy, or more crazy than he already is. There is an awkward moment of silence.
"...Well, whatever," Ciel finally says. "The rabbit is dead, so we can continue."
Sebastian nods in agreement.
"We shall do that, my lord."
The Undertaker smiles in reply while Grell frowns, tears forming in his eyes.
"But my shoulder still hurts! Can't we rest for just a little while? Please?!"
Ciel rolls his eyes, sighing at the red shinigami's pathetic state.
"Fine, but make it quick."
He looks back upon the cave. Ciel narrows his eyes, wondering to himself what other forms of madness awaits them.
For what could be worse than killer rabbits?