"'This way,' says Oscar," Snake said as he led Ciel, Sebastian, and Undertaker through the moon-covered streets of London. Sebastian was only slightly successful in getting information out of that bitch of a demon; only getting a riddle out of her, but after a discussion between the three of them, they were able to figure out who actually kidnapped her. They decided to bring Snake along since his snakes had a good sense of smell, even on par with any bloodhound and Sebastian.
"That bastard is going to pay if he hurts her," Undertaker said under his breath. He couldn't believe that Alex would do something like this. True, he was suspicious of him from the start, but he didn't think that he would do something as rash as kidnapping. Ever since she was taken, he had been staying at the manor and even teasing the young lord wasn't enough to get him out of his depression and worry. He worried for her deeply. Was she all right? Was her kidnapper torturing her? What was he doing to her? Was she scared? Is she even alive? Those thought and more filled his head every day. How could they not? She is the only being that he ever cared for so deeply. She was the only being in this world worth living for.
"'We're close. His scent is strong here,' says Oscar," Snake said as they raced down a street. It was dimly lit due to the fact it was already the middle of the night, but Ciel and Sebastian knew that Undertaker would not wait until tomorrow morning to find her if there was any lead to her captor.
However, Sebastian stopped everyone by saying, "Wait!"
The four stopped running, but Undertaker was annoyed. "Why are we stopping? He could be torturing her as we speak!"
"You don't smell the large amount of blood in this area?"
"'You have a good sense of smell Black', says Oscar," Snake said. "'But like the old guy said, we should get a move on'." Snake started to run, followed by Ciel, but Sebastian and Undertaker stayed behind.
"However, I'm afraid it isn't just human blood I smell. It's also . . . ,"
Soon, they heard a loud thumping from a house not too far away from them, right where Ciel and Snake stopped. However, they did not go inside and their expressions showed shock and fear. The two deities ran to them and they too saw the sight inside: Lilliana was fighting off a feral creature that seemed to resemble a human. She was covered in cuts and bites, both severe and not, on her hands and arms and her eyes were deep red due to the blood around her. However, on closer inspection, they figured out that the feral creature, who looked even more terrifying than the dolls on the Campania, was in fact Annabeth Phoenix. The sight was terrifying, but none more than to Adrian, who couldn't believe what she had become. "Annabeth," he worriedly yelled, distracting Lilliana from their fight. "Don't hurt her, please, Lily."
"I'm trying not to-," she tried to say, but before she could say another word, Annabeth managed to get close enough to bite her neck, but not just a small bite; one that could kill a human. Lilliana cried out in pain as she started to fall to the ground with Annabeth not far behind her, continuously biting her neck and shoulders to get more of her blood. The four looked in horror, but Snake, who was still traumatized by the dolls on the Campania, started running from the scene in terror.
"Wait, where are you going?" Ciel asked angrily, but Snake and Oscar were already out of earshot. "Coward."
"Lilliana," Sebastian yelled as he grabbed Annabeth forcefully and threw her to the nearest wall, cracking it on impact. Undertaker looked in horror as he saw his poor doll, who he still couldn't see as the monster she had become, being pushed full force into a wall, possibly hurting her severely. Sebastian, however, was far more worried about Lilliana to care about how severely he might have hurt the monster. "Are you all right?"
"S-Seba-," she tried to say, but she coughed off blood instead.
"Don't move too much. I'll try to tend to your wounds-," he tried to say, but Annabeth tried to attack Lilliana again, this time with clearly more strength than earlier, by clinging on to Sebastian's back. It took more force than last time to get her off him and away from Lilliana. "Dammit," he said under his breath.
"Sebastian, this is an order; subdue that monster," Ciel yelled. Sebastian displayed his silverware and tried throwing them at Annabeth, but a large metal object blocked his way. Even more shocking was the person wielding the object.
"If anyone dares to hurt my dear Annabeth, I will see to it that they won't be able to live," he said threateningly, which terrified both Ciel and Sebastian. Even on the Campania, he was playfully threatening, as if he wouldn't harm them on purpose, but this time, he was serious. The look in his eyes, now pushed out of the way so he could see the fight clearly, had no sense of cheer in them. They displayed anger and seriousness that were unfamiliar to them.
However, Annabeth tried running toward Lilliana again and Sebastian sighed as he had to put away the silverware and pick up his severely bleeding Lilliana away from the monster. He also had to make sure to protect his young master from her if she ever chose to go for him. He was in a tight pinch: he couldn't hurt the thing that was after them or else he would be hurt, possibly killed, for doing so. Even worse, he had to care for Lilliana, who was immobilized by the injuries she suffered, even going in and out of consciousness. He guided them outside of the house and into the moonlight, hoping to have some advantage over her with the open space.
"Annabeth, what happened to you? Why are you like this?" Adrian tried to reason as he tried to hold her back, but she was pretty strong for a doll. In fact, one could argue that her strength was superhuman. Even he had trouble fighting her off, which was saying a lot since he had immense strength as well. The dolls on the Campania didn't have nearly this much strength; they were easily defeated by Sebastian, Lilliana and those two other Reapers. Why was she so different despite now looking exactly like them, even having the blood around her mouth?
"Undertaker, I'm afraid you have to come to terms that she is no longer the doll you cared for deeply. She's a monster," Ciel said as he ran to safety by an alleyway. Sebastian tried taking Lilliana there, but Annabeth seemed to follow wherever he went.
"She is not gone! Her vision is just clouded," he said, but an idea flashed in his mind. Her cloudy vision . . . He grabbed onto Annabeth and looked into her eyes and saw that they weren't as cloudy as they were when they first saw her. True, it was a slight difference, but noticeable enough for him. He looked at Lilliana, who was still bleeding quite heavily, but he connected something. She's not following them per say; she's following the blood. The Reaper blood. "Sebastian, hand me Lilliana!"
"Why?" he asked, trying to set Lilliana down to safety, but it didn't work since Annabeth would follow.
"She's not after you, but instead Lilliana's blood. She's attracted to its scent," he explained as he ran to him, hoping Annabeth wouldn't follow so quickly. However, before they could exchange her, they heard the sound of two engines roaring above them and soon, a long spear-like contraption landed right in front of Annabeth, but not hitting her.
"How unfortunate, I missed," William T. Spears said as he retracted his Death Scythe. On his left was Ronald Knox, who had his lawnmower Death Scythe ready to go, and on his right was a fully recovered Grell Sutcliff, who was more than happy to have joined the mission.
"Oh Bassy~," he yelled with glee as he revved up his chainsaw again.
"Out of all times to show up," Sebastian said under his breath, but his focus returned to the fight in front of him, or at least, it did before the Reapers interfered. Ronald tried landing his Death Scythe on Annabeth's head, but Undertaker blocked him before he could.
"I should have known the unknown creature was a reanimated corpse," William said as he tried to impale her again, but Undertaker blocked his attack as well. "Though, I didn't think it was one too strong for even Ms. Kiliamo to handle."
"I guess I'm collecting the soul after all. At least we proved one thing: Lilliana was involved," Ronald said as he tried to aim his Death Scythe for another attack.
"Aren't I amazing, William darling? I sniffed out her double-crossing ways a long time ago. Praise me," Grell said as he leaned in close toward William.
"What is the meaning of this?" Sebastian asked as he still tried to dodge Annabeth's attack since now, Undertaker was too busy blocking his fellow Reapers' attacks to hold her back.
Grell smirked as he jumped down to the fight below. He tried to get as close to his darling as he could as he said, "Let's hope that teaches her a lesson for being a traitor."
"She is possibly dying and you have the nerve to say that this is a lesson?!" he said angrily as his demon eyes flared.
"Ooo, darling, I love how scary your eyes look when you're angry. However, there is a matter I need to attend to," he said as he revved his chainsaw again and swung it toward Annabeth. Unaware of the threat, she headed toward the attack, slicing her arm, but not a deep wound. Meanwhile, Undertaker worked hard to fight off his fellow Reapers, who at this point were only attacking him.
"Adrian Crevan . . . I'm surprised you would go as low as to play with the dead. What you did was a crime against the Reaper Association and we will not let you get away with it," William said as he tried striking his Death Scythe toward Adrian, but missed.
However, Adrian laughed. "My only crime was curiosity. Tell me, have you ever wondered what would happen if you gave a second life to a soul?"
"That is not the point! You made those terrifying monsters on that cruise liner, killing a large amount of innocent humans. We can't just ignore that," Ronald said as he tried striking Adrian, but instead, he was hit by the shaft of Adrian's Death Scythe, sending him toward William, who jumped out of the way just in time.
However, their fight was short-lived as they heard Grell's chainsaw rev up again and hit what seemed to be concrete. The three looked toward the noise and were shocked to see that Grell had actually pinned Annabeth to a wall by impaling her in the chest to a wall. He made sure to keep it steady since she tried to move to get Lilliana's blood. However, it seemed that she felt no pain as she tried to reach her hands toward the direction Lilliana was at. "Annabeth," Adrian yelled with worry, but soon, his own shoulder was impaled by William's Death Scythe.
"Not so fast. She may be evidence to your crimes, but she is just as valuable if she was dead," Ronald said as he pulled out handcuffs and placed them on his wrists. Once he was in their custody, William retracted his Death Scythe, probably in the most painful way he could.
"Our mission was a success. Not only did we expose the double-agent, but we also captured the elusive Adrian Crevan and evidence of his crimes," William said as he pushed back his glasses.
"Could someone tell me what's going on?" Ciel said as he got out of his hiding place and walked toward Sebastian, who at this point, was covered in Lilliana's blood.
"Oh, if it isn't the brat," Grell said, still keeping Annabeth in place.
"If I must, we had suspicion that Ms. Kiliamo had been working for Adrian Crevan for a while now, ever since we assigned her and Ms. Vendoa to figure out the reason for the large amount of missing souls in London," William explained, "Although her bluff was unnoticeable for some, Mr. Sutcliff seemed to see right through her. However, we could never confront her about this since she would never admit to it. So, the only solution was giving her an assignment close to Ms. Phoenix and observing the results. We had to modify the details by saying that Alexander Maxwell was killed by an 'unknown creature' rather than Ms. Phoenix. However, we didn't expect that any of you would show up, or the fact that a demon would protect a Grim Reaper."
"She's my maid. If she were killed, we would have less help around the manor," Ciel said, but it was clear that Sebastian didn't feel the same way. However, he couldn't say anything.
"Oh, she's a maid, is she? I wonder what she looks like in a maid outfit," Ronald commented, making Adrian and Sebastian glare at him. "What? I'm just curious."
"Anyway, I think it's about time we take our leave. Farewell," William said as he and the other Reapers, now including Adrian, started heading back to their realm, at least, they were waiting for Grell to subdue Annabeth, but Sebastian stopped them.
"You mean to tell me that you put Lilliana in danger and now that she is severely hurt, you're not going to care for her," he said angrily as he treated her wounds. She was unconscious, but still breathing. "She could be dying and you three wouldn't care? True, I don't care for my own kind, but I'm sure you three have some connection with her."
"Katia would be mighty upset if we left Lilliana here," Ronald said as he made sure Adrian wouldn't try to escape. "After all, those two are pretty close."
"One may argue she may be in love with that wench," Grell said, slightly rolling his eyes.
"Grim Reapers can't fall in love," William said. "It is beyond our emotion status."
"Oh, I beg to differ. How do you explain my undying love for you and Bassy?"
"I can't understand anything about you, Sutcliff," he said as he pushed his glasses back. "However, we cannot ignore that one of our own has been severely injured. I was going to leave her in your hands, Michaelis, since I am sure you can take care of her yourself, but if you insist that we treat her, we will."
Ronald went to retrieve her, but as he tried to pick her up, he tried avoid any blood on her, but couldn't find a good spot. "Damn, I just cleaned this suit. I don't want to get blood all over it." Everyone sighed.
"Let me carry her," Adrian said gently. The three looked at him with suspicion. "You honestly think that I would try to run with a dear friend who needs serious medical care in my arms? I give up; you've caught me and my doll." However, he noticed that Grell was still trying to control the feral Annabeth, but he was too scared to even remove his chainsaw from the wall. "She needs Reaper blood."
"What? Are you insane?!" Grell yelled, especially since she was still reaching out, as if she was going to attack him if she had the chance.
"I know it sounds ridiculous, but she needs it in order to be her old, perky self. I'll show you, if you can just take these handcuffs off of me," Adrian said in a serious tone.
"You truly are insane! How do we know you're not going to escape once we do? We-," Ronald tried to say, but was interrupted.
"I already told you that you three won. I'm not going to escape when my doll is in custody. She is too important to me to leave behind, so at least let me help her," he said assertively. They were reluctant, but William gave them a nod and Ronald took the handcuffs off of Adrian's wrist. He then approached Grell, who was both scared and flustered by his presence.
"I-I don't need y-your help. I-I-I got her," he said in a fluster.
"You have done well, Grell, but now it's my turn. Please, step out of the side," Adrian said surprisingly calm, making Grell blush.
"O-okay," he said nervously as he pulled out his Death Scythe from Annabeth. She immediately tried running to Lilliana since her blood was still visible on her clothing, but Adrian held her back. He reached out to Grell's Death Scythe and slit his hand on the blades, scaring Grell. "W-What do you think you're doing?!"
"Trust me," he said as he showed the bloody hand to her. At the sight, she took it in her hands and bit it hard. One might have assumed that she bit hard enough to bite a chunk off, but luckily, she didn't. He grunted in pain and the Reapers and Sebastian started walking his way to help him, but he made a gesture for them not to. "L-Let her do this," he said in pain. They were all confused, but they decided to trust him. He was insane, but not so much that he would kill himself. However, as they watched, they noticed that Annabeth was actually looking better. Her hair was starting to regain its golden shine, her skin was turning back to creamy white, and when she was finished and opened her eyes, they were back to their blue-and-green shade that Adrian had come to love. Everyone was shocked to see the transformation. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, forgetting that she just drank his blood, but gave Adrian a tight hug.
"Adrian, I was so scared I would never see you again," she said as tears began forming in her eyes.
"Did he hurt you?" he asked, still holding onto her embrace. It had been forever since they were like this and he would kiss her if they weren't in front of company.
"No, he didn't, but he did terrify me and Lucy. He acted as if we were married, despite I was never allowed to leave the house, but if I ever escaped, he would hurt Lucy."
"Lucy?" Sebastian asked, scaring Annabeth.
"S-Sebastian, I didn't realize-," she said before seeing an unconscious Lilliana in his arms, now covered in bandages, but her clothes were soaked with her blood. "Oh my lord! What happened to her? Is she all right?"
"Frankly, my dear, you put on quite a show with your bloodlust," Grell said as he tried to approach Sebastian and cling onto his arm, but Sebastian moved out of the way before he could.
"My bloodlust?" she repeated, but looked at her dress and some of her hair, which were covered with blood. She thought she only drank Adrian's blood, so how did all this blood get on her? She then looked at Lilliana and made a connection. "D-Did I . . . Did I do that?"
"That and more," Ronald said, but his expression changed as he remembered something. "Oh right, the soul. I have to go collect it," he said as he ran off inside.
"Who was that?" she asked Adrian, but was soon approached by William.
"Hello, Ms. Annabeth Phoenix. My name is William T. Spears. I'm afraid I have to report that I must take you and Adrian Crevan back to the Shinigami Realm. He is a criminal to our kind and you are evidence to his crimes," he said calmly and collectively.
"H-His crimes? What did he do?!"
"I'm afraid there isn't enough time to explain. You must come with us," he said as they watched Adrian take Lilliana from Sebastian's arms. They noticed that his tuxedo was soaked with her blood, but he was sad to let her go, or at least, that's what Annabeth thought.
"Lily must have collected the soul," Ronald said as he walked back to them. "There is no Cinematic Record to collect."
"I guess she did manage to fulfill her assignment after all. Now that we have everyone, we can go. Let's go Ronald and Grell." Ciel and Sebastian watched as the Reapers and Annabeth walked away from them, but Ciel seemed to have no emotion for what just happened.
"So, her own kind betrayed Lilliana. And they wonder why she teamed up with a demon," he said, but noticed that Sebastian was still a little distraught about letting Lilliana go. "Sebastian?"
He snapped out of his trance and asked, "Yes, my lord?"
"I never thought to ask, but will she survive? I wouldn't ask if you didn't seem so worried."
"I'm not worried, my lord," he said with his devilish smile, but soon lost it as he continued. "But I can't say for certain. She lost a large amount of blood, enough to kill a human, but she is a Grim Reaper."
"But her fellow Grim Reapers seemed to give up on her."
"I'm sure she'll be fine," a feminine voice said from out of nowhere. The two looked around for the source of the voice, but Sebastian's eyes slanted at the sound. "She is part demon, after all. She can't be killed off that easily."
"That voice," he said angrily. Suddenly, large blue flames appeared in front of them and as the flames died down, they saw Lucille with her black slim dress that showed off her cleavage and a slit showing off her legs. She wore elbow length black gloves, but there seemed to be a tattoo of a sword on her right arm, the handle at her shoulder. Her blue hair was a bit curly, but her lips were a deep shade of blood red, but not because of lipstick. She had a smoky look around her red eyes that pierced into their souls, or at least Ciel's soul. To any other being, she would be quite beautiful, but Sebastian was far from pleased to see her again.
"Hello again, Michaelis," she said with a seductive smirk.
"What do you think you're doing here?" he said sharply.
"Oh, is that any way to talk to a lady?" she said as she tried to put her arms around his neck, as if they were a couple, but he pushed her back forcefully.
"You are far from a lady, Lucille. In fact, you barely deserve any respect at all."
"Lucille? Do you mean this woman is the daughter or Lucifer," Ciel asked, finally catching up with everything happening, but also did not want to be ignored.
"My, my, your supper is a smart one, Sebastian. You've seasoned him well," she said as she grabbed Ciel's face with one hand. "He must be a worthy soul indeed for you to season him this meticulously."
However, he swatted her hand away, "I would much prefer if you didn't touch my young master. Your mere touch could taint him."
She chuckled as she said, "Of course. Where are my manners? After all, I already had my meal for today."
"So you devoured Alexander's soul, I presume?"
"As a matter of fact, I did. His soul wasn't quite as delicious as the souls I have become accustomed to, but it was substance, nonetheless."
"I should have known you were in a contract with him. Everything concerning Ms. Phoenix seemed too coincidental for it to genuine. He had to have help from a supernatural being, but what would you want with a soul as mundane as his?"
She was silent, but said, "It wasn't his soul I was after." They looked at her with shock. "It was the soul that even he was after."
"Annabeth's soul? What would you want with it?"
She chuckled again. "It's not important. Shouldn't you be worrying about our little Demonic Reaper?"
"Why would you care about a Grim Reaper?" Ciel asked in confusion.
"She's a lot more than a Reaper, human. If anything, she is the closest being we have to converting to demonic powers, but was 'reconditioned' by her fellow Reapers to become the good little Reaper. However, there are a few tips even they couldn't shake off."
"Still, why would you come here? I'm sure you didn't approach us just to say hello," Sebastian said.
"You're right. I came to you to say two things. First of all, I want to say that you put on quite a show, but I wish that you wouldn't have let someone that I actually care about get hurt. Second, I am willing to make a deal with you two, if you're interested."