The Brain Returns

On the night of June 4th...

Julia kept watch on the events using Ciel's visible eye.

She was glad she did because when things got hairy, she came disguised in black cloaks with Richard as they used several Pythons on the Undead.

'Snakes!' the boys panicked while Ciel looked relieved they came with help.

'Good work!' Ciel cried, 'Evacuate the students and leave us here!' the two cloaked figures then jumped towards the table.

'This way!' they had to pull those too petrified to move away from the zombies.

'Ciel, what about the Undead?' Julia's voice caused the boys to recognize one of the cloaked newcomers. 'Do we butcher them up or not?'

'I'm afraid as irritating as this is, we cannot butcher them up for permanent termination because we need to bring them back home.' Sebastian sighed in a long-suffering manner. 'Queen's orders to find and bring them home.'

'Bring home Zombies?! There's a limit to how you can do your orders you know!' Julia sputtered incredulously. 'Surely they'll consider...?'

'Well, our life just plain sucks!' Ciel scoffed in annoyance. 'Keep them tied with Pythons!'

'Kukukukuku...Zombie...the origin of that word is from Haitian Folklore wherein dead bodies are animated by Witchcraft...I suppose its pretty appropriate for my new toys.' Undertaker chuckled.

'Get them out of here and interrogate! We'll handle Undertaker!' Ciel took out his gun.

'You heard my part-time Employer! Move it!' Julia barked as they left the garden and closed the door behind them.

'Wait a minute, what about Ciel?!' Edward cried as the two cloaked figures locked the door.

'Sorry buster but as Secret Service, its his job to stay until Criminal is apprehended. Even if he wanted to get away, he could not because he directly reports to Her Majesty the Queen.' Julia sighed as she and Snake took off their cloaks.

'Marielle!' Greenhill gasped at his cousin. 'You...you work for Phantomhive?' Julia got incredulous stares for this.

Greenhill knew she used to live in East End but she also works for Ciel?

'I used to but ever since I was discovered to be a 'lost noble', Uncle Grey made me quit and had me as Informant instead while studying how to be a proper lady.' Julia shrugged. 'Sigh, well, back to business...you guys are clearly involved with the disappearance and murder of Derrick Arden, a direct relative of the Queen.' she said grimly as the fags looked at their Prefects, horrified since they just murdered a monarch's relative...for what, they don't know. 'You guys better be honest because due to your young age and cooperation, you could be granted a lenient sentence depending on the situation.' she said, reinforcing her voice with magic, forcing the Prefects to be honest with her as they told their tale.

A tale the fags couldn't believe happened.

It began one year ago when they became Prefects...they all chose their first fag. Derrick Arden.

Since they couldn't find anyone else, they all shared him but was mostly Redmond's since he came from Scarlet House.

He was dazzling. From a Marquis Bloodline, cheerful personality, and overflowing talent. But due to that perfect existence, they didn't know the darkness behind him until it was too late. That, and they were getting many anonymous bullying complaints from the Complaint Box!

Somebody sent them a poem but Redmond picked up on emphasis on some words because they were written with blue ink if looked at a certain angle but if looked at normally, it looks black. He deciphered the poem and called his fellow Prefects out to find a horrible truth.

'The Poem?' Julia frowned. 'Please recite it but to those written in blue ink, please gesture quote marks with your hands.' she instructed.

'A-alright...' Redmond gasped out as he recited. 'When Thor was lying beside the Lake of Integrity with a Torch by his side, lending his ear to a benevolent apostle playing a harp of bent pearl, a naughty fairy appeared to toss his torch into the lake. When he did so, the torch went out and the lake was filled with stars. The beautiful lake became legendary for its healing powers but the God who had been deprived of light could only wander the night.'

'A hidden message...to call you all out after lights out on Thursday night at a music room?' Julia mused as she deciphered it. 'But I don't get the deprived of light thing.'

'Indeed. As expected of Secret Service I guess.' Redmond swallowed. 'We were all called out there and we saw a horrific sight. And the true meaning of that poem was a call for help and a revelation that Derrick Arden...and by seeing what we saw in the Music Room, Derrick Arden and his friends were cruelly hazing some boys.' he gritted his teeth furiously as the other Prefects looked stony. The other fags could not believe what they were hearing either.

'It also hit me that deprived of light meant Derrick Arden was a fake. The Cricket. His supposed talents and work...in fact, those students he and his friends hazed? They did it all under duress for him!' he cried as the fags froze.

'My god...if you say that now, Maurice Cole clearly took a page off his book!' Edward exclaimed as the boys remembered Ciel outing Redmond's Prefect in the Music Room with an elaborate set-up.

'Indeed he did.' Redmond scowled, remembering his old fag who was fake up to his own looks. 'I'm furious with myself back then because its twice that I made poor judges of character. And because of his status, the others truly cannot defend themselves...who can lift a hand against a relative of the Queen?' he cried. 'He stole their work and talents for himself, to make himself shine! For all four years in school!'

'Even then, when I yelled angrily that the Principal will hear of this...it turns out that the Vice-Principal could care less.' said Greenhill bitterly. 'He was bribed with a high-class wine so he lazily let them off with a single Y and clearly, they won't even bother to do it! It was then...I lost my temper.' he said, utterly ashamed of himself. 'My mind went black from anger and before I knew it, I felt that I hit something with something long...many times. It turned out that when I came to, I murdered them all with a Cricket Bat.'

'And we protected Greenhill by not letting them escape.' said Violet. 'As long as they are here, Tradition will crumble if they are here and rose in society. We couldn't let it happen so we conspired to get rid of them after Greenhill made the first move out of anger. And all of us are Prefects. Prefects who protect Tradition. And by protecting Tradition we protect Society.'

'We'll commit murder if we have to.' said Bluer in firm resolve. 'Can you imagine them let loose in society upon graduation? With him on the loose, he'll go on a reign of corruption and oppression as Marquis!' he cried. 'He already broke several scions' minds that they're even scared of his shadow! Our school is famed for producing great elites that will take on pivotal roles in our country for the country. We can't let our generation desecrate the traditions that have been upheld for hundreds of years since the founding of our school! The History of Weston is the History of England!'

'Only in modern times.' Julia drawled, crossing her arms. 'Before Weston came to be, notable men and women laid down the foundations that wrote England's history. Then you guys heard of the Aurora Society's experiments since I recognize those damn Zombies on the Campania.' Julia twitched. 'It was hectic covering up the chaos they caused as they tried to EAT people!' the students looked ill at the idea.

'Y-yes, Uncle Druitt has connections with the society.' said Redmond as Julia twitched before she looked furious.

'Do you realize what he took part in along with many other nobles?!' Julia exploded. 'Many Nobles and the Gentry supported the society, interested in their Zombie Research that upon amassing a huge amount of money from donations, they purchased a huge amount of slaves smuggled into England and Slavery is illegal in this country! At least we got those bastards arrested...I get your feelings as well but its a start wrong end wrong.' Julia chided. 'Murder will never justify anything unless its Self-Defense in Duress or Protecting the Country.'

'But while Expulsion in the name of Tradition or worse, a Death Sentence is inevitable as all of you are of age now...' the four Prefects gulped as the fags freaked out at the idea. 'You can dilute the severity by gathering witnesses...those who were abused for four straight years and speak what was done to them. Though I don't think they know that you murdered their tormentors...assemble them in the Principal's Office, and send letters to the parents...and all of you will face Her Majesty after Ciel gives his report. Richard, how're things in the garden?' Julia asked Richard who has his snakes out.

'...its pretty violent in there...not yet over.' said Richard as he looked at his snakes that hissed back to him.

'But we're way over here, how can you hear them?' Harcourt asked him incredulously.

'Snakes cannot hear but feel Vibrations instead.' said Richard. 'And by how intense the vibrations are...a fight is going on. That man you call Principal is as strong as Mr. Sebastian.'

'Yikes...it might escalate, let's get out of here...' Julia sweatdropped. 'I know how strong he is, let's go!' they ran for it.

'Run where?' Greenhill gasped out.

'Principal's Office and get letter-drafting!' as they ran, Julia telepathically relayed everything to Ciel by connecting him to her eyes and ears as she talked with the boys.

For now he let her have her way since while the difference between Education and Brainwashing is paper-thin, he still has a heart himself. At least they didn't murder for crime-related things but this case is strange by itself...but wait, because this is an Underworld Case, this cannot go public!

He then told her to leave with her Second as they must not be seen in the school other than by those involved.

xxx

The Palace the next day...

Ciel talked with the Queen about the matter in person while Julia and Sebastian ensures the Queen doesn't get any funny ideas with their powers.

'...so that's what happened.' the Queen mused as she sipped tea.

'The difference between education and brainwashing are paper-thin, evident as they're willing to commit murder just for meaning well for society's future.' said Ciel. 'But as Lady Greenhill puts it, start wrong, end wrong. They could have sent letters of appeal, with evidence being their own bruised bodies and Arden clearly didn't look into what he forced them to make for him. Proof can be shown by them knowing the contents and he didn't. Perhaps its because of his relations and the fact that the Vice-Principal is bribed while fully-aware of their mischief that they thought doing the right thing was useless. If Arden, a direct relative of the Queen could do it...the message sent to these abused scions' minds are clear. They cannot count on the law as they believed so their only escape was the Prefects...who in turn committed murder to 'protect society'. What is your verdict?' Ciel asked the Queen while bracing himself.

'Indeed, the wrong message was sent across. We understand that.' said Queen Victoria. 'We would like to meet the Prefects and these boys hazed by my nephew. We want to hear it straight from them to know just how much damage was done before we deliver the sentence.'

Ciel knew the Queen was worried about her family's image to these boys who may have told their families. All because of her nephew.

'Very well. We'll organize a 'field trip' to Buckingham Palace.' Ciel bowed. 'Anything of concern?'

'Yes, what to do with those moving corpses?'

'These...zombies...they're animated corpses brought to life by unknown means...but because they are truly dead, those bodies are empty, moved by magic tricked into being 'alive'.' said Ciel. 'But instinct would make them seek what they lack. Life. They would tear bodies apart in search of life they could make their own but its a neverending search as the life that was truly theirs passed on long ago.' he explained. 'They're better off decapitated to put them down for good. But we await orders. As they are now, we can't bury them in a casket, they'll dig their way out and be a menace to society.'

'We imagine.' Queen Victoria sighed. 'We will think about the matter with Sebastian on hand. Double Charles and Brown do not know of this matter. We will have to talk to the parents of these boys who have become Zombies...and what led them to this fate.'

'Very well. We will await further orders.'

It took two days later to go to Buckingham Palace with Julia watching from East End.

The Verdict was based on the storytelling with the witnesses present. Due to a lot of witnesses to the victims' true nature and resentment to the Marquee Family of Clemens, that instead of Jail Time, Expulsion was the punishment of the Prefects while it was Ciel's job to notify the parents by letter, using the Queen's personal wax seal in another room.

Its to be expected that she was summoned back home to Greenhill Manor.

xxx

'Oh Marielle, its awful what happened to Herman!' Countess Greenhill cried.

'I know but Expulsion is tame compared to Jail Time at least.' said Julia. 'Society will raise eyebrows even more if the son of a Count is in jail while getting Expelled from school is still kept under wraps. However, for Cousin who valued Tradition more than anything...getting expelled to protect society from Derrick Arden will be a hard blow and this will haunt him and the other three for life.'

'I see...'

'Well, to be fair its the Marquee who are more affected by this and Arden died by his own actions which was why for his death, Expulsion was the answer, not Jail Time or worse. The Marquee Family of Clemens would have it hard from offended families and that's about over thirty families whose sons Arden violently hazed with his cronies. This will affect their social standing.'

'But what can we do for Herman? Herman was your grandfather's successor but now as much as he wants to still despite what happened, he cannot make Herman his heir due to a Black Record of Expulsion. Everyone will be against it.' Countess Greenhill lamented. 'The most Herman can get is a handsome inheritance, but being Count is lost to him forever.'

'Well, I can make use of those guys.' Julia's eyes glinted. 'For Community Service before they end up in even crazier things if left unchecked in a bid for looking for a purpose in life and nobility tend to 'get interested in weird things'. I'll pen the idea to the Queen through Uncle Grey that I'll basically be their Warden. By doing good to society through children, they can redeem themselves this way.'

'I hope it goes through.' said Countess Greenhill. 'But is it OK? You're already doing too much work.'

She was, by looking for faults in the Surface World for the Queen!

'Through this, my time as Ciel's part-timer will even be shorter.'

After sending the letter, she got a reply by nightfall from the Queen herself. She got approval, thus gathered the other three to Greenhill Mansion in London.

'Marielle, what's this all about?' Herman asked his cousin. 'Why are Bluer, Redmond and Violet invited here? Not that I'm against it, I wonder how they are doing a home...'

'I imagine as well but not like anyone will tell.' said Julia wryly. 'I'll explain when they get here.'

And so...

'So why have you called us here, Lady Greenhill?' Redmond asked Julia nervously as they looked at the young lady who's dressed like a gentleman instead of elegant day gowns. She's part of the Secret Service after all they have exchanged letters about it...

'To start off...what have you guys been doing since that day?' Julia asked the other three. 'Herman's being all gloom and doom in his room.'

'Marielle!' Herman sputtered at being called out on.

'To be fair...same as he does.' Bluer admitted. 'Don't know about Redmond and Violet though.'

'Sigh, all I know is that I got an inheritance but that's it.' said Redmond. 'I know I'm no longer the next to be Count but I've been groomed all my life to be Count, what else can I do?'

'...I can't draw or paint anymore.' Violet sighed.

'I see...you still wish to be productive to society correct?' she asked the boys. 'It was your whole being in Weston.' the four older boys choked. 'Then, you will contribute to society by doing what I'm doing.'

'Eh?' the other three had question marks on their foreheads.

'What is she doing Greenhill?' Redmond asked in interest.

'Before Uncle Gray discovered Aunt's lost daughter is alive,' said Herman, looking at Julia, 'Marielle was living as Julia in East End Slums, leading a gang of educated, cultured orphans called 'The Aberrations'. Their name was given to them by adults who looked down on them for trying to change their station in life as nothing more than unwanted children they can exploit and throw away when no longer useful.' his friends looked stunned. 'The Gang gathered and rescued orphans in London, gave them a home, work, free food and education in order to be somebodies one day. The Gang funds this venture through thievery as pickpockets.'

'Ehhh?!'

'Well, considering the results we've had, her Majesty's willing to look the other way. My Generation already got themselves good-paying jobs because they're educated and trained to have many abilities attractive for employment, enjoying a salary of 20-30 pounds a year, what's normal for commoners but 20-30 pounds is an ideal salary for a comfortable, modest life while if one wanted it big, you'd have to be paid 40-90 per minimum annum of the careers they're in now.' Julia giggled. 'Her majesty has a soft spot for children but as a softcore criminal as a gang of philanthropist thieves, I'm under watch as well.'

'Er...you mean to say...we'll work for your gang?' Herman gawked. Bad enough they've done murder and shady dealings, they'll be thieves this time?!

'Leave the thievery to my gang, you guys got no heart and talent to do it.' said Julia airily. 'You boys will focus more on learning about life outside your swanky, comfortable mansions. You'll help us raise and educate the children we rescued, as well as protecting them from Slave Traders and other criminals with our lives. No mercy, even murder is legal as Slave Traders are NOT welcome in England. We're the lesser evil so to speak.' Julia explained. 'Our duty is to raise a new generation of English who will be decent human beings who are kinder to children. These orphans thrown away by society out of financial issues know full well what its like thus will never do the same to their own children.'

'You will learn how to clean and cook the hard way, be teachers, and be protectors. Not only that, we have another duty for the country.'

'What's that?'

'Find everything wrong about Society that hampers society's growth. Such examples are in my Office in East End for you to understand where I'm getting at. We'll then gather our reports, and send it to Uncle Gray who'll forward it to her Majesty.' said Julia. 'That, and I will teach you the reality of commoners and the poor nobody will ever tell blue-blooded children. Its tough work, but at least, you're doing it for society's evolution as people with good hearts slowly being seeded into society. By taking away children from unfair Child Labor in society and giving them safe work though still Child Labor but on fairer terms, free education with good pay and free meals, the existence of Child Labor in society will disappear. And our Graduates will roam England and send Orphans our way as well so we get new members once in a while. That, is our aim and end goal.'

'Oh...' indeed, while funded by crime, the end result is wholesome to improve lives of commoners.

'The job of children at East End is as Cleaners and Painters. By cleaning our territory of East End, we expand our territory. We also pay contractors under the payroll of Oriental Quarters to demolish old, derelict buildings into building newer and safer buildings, apartments for children to live in. You'll be surprised how our territory looks I literally got the Royal Seal of Approval.' Julia snorted.

'How much are the children paid?' Violet asked her.

'Well, as Cleaners who clean up East End, they're paid 2 Pounds and 10 Shillings a week since East End, due to unbelievable neglect by authorities before I started my gang, is unbelievably filthy and it stinks so bad that no sane person would accept a couple shillings for pay for that work. East End is the garbage area and gutter of London and cleaning is no joke. If you see East End before we get to my territory, you'll understand its worth the pay.'

'As for the Painters, due to climbing and working on scaffolding, its 2 Pounds and three Crowns. Heck, the kids earn more than their parents do under our employment.' Julia snickered. 'Not only that, their pay comes in very loose change of Farthings and Pennies so no Merchant can cheat their uneducated parents off. We also hold nightly cookouts, providing free big dinners to families within our territory. I'm sure you boys wouldn't want to experience going to sleep on an empty stomach...its no Gourmet Cuisine as groceries are expensive, but we care more for taste and how delicious it is. And the final catch? We'll be living in East End for five days of the week with us going home to our families at night to spend time at home on weekends, and come back to East End at six pm. If you agree to this, we will begin by hiring a tailor to outfit you boys with clothes so you will not stand out in East End. Its a Tailor affiliated to Secret Service who knows how to make clothes appropriate for Undercover Jobs.'

'Oh, I'm sending the bill to your parents about the Commoner Outfits you'll wear.'