Updates might be slower, due to me being sick :( Nausea is no place for a mighty writer!


"Might… I ask why… we are here." Ciel struggled to say through clenched breaths. Undertaker was currently stitching his ankle. After an agonizing half hour, the bone was reset and tended too. Ciel had refused to faint and kept biting into his make shift gag Sebastian had given him. With the aid of his butler, he had remained horizontal during the procedure restricting him from battering the giggling idiot digging upon his wound.

"My deepest apologies master, but as you were unconscious I had to make a decision quickly. I recalled he owed you a favor, so I brought you here because I panicked." Sebastian kneels down grabbing his lord's hand and bringing it to his mouth. He wore an expression of guilt and grief "I'm so sorry my lord, I have failed you…" he sighs sadly and continues "for I do not know how to reset your fragile bones." Ciel's eye twitched in annoyance.

"Do you have a death wish, demon?" Ciel glared as he takes his hand away from Sebastian's lips and smacks the top of his head.

"Welcome back, my lord." Sebastian grins happily.

"Indeed, Earl. I thought you dead when he brought you in, you just don't know when to quit do you?" Smiling, Undertaker stands and walks out of the room into a hallway. The sound of water faintly echoes into the room.

Ciel breaks the silence in a hushed tone "What happened with the man in the woods?"

He was near death, and this is the first matter he addresses? "Lost, as I believe you were following him when you got attacked."

"How was he lost?! Why did you not track-"A quick glare from Sebastian stops the boy mid rant.

"Your safety takes priority, master." The two stare at each other both upset for different reasons, the gaze is broken by Ciel making a sound of annoyance.

"Help me sit up."

"You should continue lying down, my lord."

"Do it."

"No."

Ciel looks over incredulously at his butler, who still kept the glare upon his face.

"Lover's spat?" Undertaker returns to the room, his hair hanging free once more and his arms free of the straps that had held his sleeves. "It is quite disgusting how attached you are to this demon, my Earl." He glides by Sebastian with a grin on his lips, laughing slightly "Ah, but nothing is truly inseparable is it?" The demon glares, watching the death god approach his master which makes Sebastian move closer to the boy as well.

Undertaker looks down at the boy, whom was only clad in torn shorts as a result of Sebastian's exploration. The boy's cuts were pink and irritated but they were closed and looked like they would heal with time. His ankle was wrapped but bruising hinted at the mess that lay beneath the bandages.

"It does appear that your ointment helped treat the wounds, some might wonder where one could acquire such an affective salve" Sebastian stated, looking at the elder reaper with interest.

"You know what say about curiosity, heh heh!" the reaper sits on the table Ciel was sprawled out on and reaches out a hand touching a single finger to Ciel's heart, "how very impressive that you have fought the demon this long Earl. You have fought courageously but no human has ever survived possession and neither will you sadly. We all succumb to temptation and to the promise of power." His emerald eyes glimmer in the low light of the room and glaze over almost as if recalling a memory, "You will fight and struggle to escape, but the parasite within enjoys this game the most. It will cripple you, tempt you, and corner you until madness is all that remains." His face is serious, almost frightening "Not even death can save you from this fate." Grinning, he removes his hand. "So, Earl, what do you plan to do?"

After repetitive blinking, Ciel states simply "I will become human once more."

Undertaker explodes in laughter then, slapping the table in amusement. "Oh Earl, You are too much!" He stumbles away from the boy giggling and heads over to a desk retrieving books stacked there. "Here, some literature while you mend. I suggest you take it easy, but I am certain you won't. However, do know that the demon feeds on your weakness, so take that into consideration." Walking back over, he hands the books to Sebastian, "For demon's prey on the weak."

"Pitiful demons, perhaps" Sebastian smiles, a hint of venom in his words. His eyes flick from the reaper back to that of his master. "Shall we go then, my lord?"

"Yes, carry me." Ciel commands and his butler lifts him with his free arm, holding him as gentle as he can to not agitate the wounds. Content, he turns on his heel to leave the parlor.

"Ciel, I do recall warning you to take care of your soul as it is the only one you get." Undertaker stood there with his hood covering his face, hiding his expression, "if you believe you have lost your way do know that I can collect your soul, for I will take care of it. That I can assure you," he waves at them as they take their leave then.

The door clicks close and Undertaker starts giggling walking over to his desk to fall into a chair. He digs into a drawer pulling out a framed picture and sighs. The frame depicts Undertaker and a much more elder Phantomhive standing before a burning fireplace. Outlining the figure of the former Earl with his finger, he grows serious "you had asked me to watch over Ciel and continue the Phantomhive linage. Each day that boy grows more and more like you, Vincent. As I am a good friend, I will make sure your wishes are granted." His eyes go flat and the image blurs in front of him as he falls deep into thought. I didn't have the courage that my young earl had, and when I suspected I would lose myself, I ended it before the demon could. A small part of me hopes he can find an answer to his hopeless quest for it would truly be a sight to see. A smile creeps back onto his face and he stands "I suppose I should get back to work then, my company awaits."


"That man is truly half mad, but useful none the less." Ciel looked down at the books stacked in his lap and had a hard time deciphering what the titles were. "Blasted Latin, I suppose I will have to refresh my memory of this dead language."

"I could read them to you; I know how you enjoy a good bed time story my lord." Sebastian suggested, jabbing at the boy.

"You're awfully pleasant tonight? Does it tickle you to see me at the bridge of death?" Ciel jabbed back at him.

"On the contrary, I am most pleased to see you awake, as I feared I might have lost you again."

"Don't want to lose your precious dinner?" Ciel jabbed one last time and Sebastian looked down at him with a weird expression on his face. The boy couldn't decipher the emotions in the demons features, was it worry? Or annoyance? Perhaps relief? An uneasy feeling stirs near his heart.

"No, my lord. I am actually reliev-" Sebastian is interrupted mid-sentence by Ciel talking in a tone louder than his own, to flood out the rest of the sentence.

"Listen to my order Sebastian. You are to stakeout Elizabeth's manor once more, and this time follow the man. As I am quite worse for wear, I will stay at the manor and research these books." Right after I relearn Latin, shouldn't be too difficult. "Once you have found the man report back to me at once, for I wish to pay him a visit."

Sighing, Sebastian nods "I will take you home then, my lord."


To be continued!

Please review and comment. ;D

And as always, see you next chapter!