I hold no claim to the characters from this kick-ass Anime. Only Aurora, Melony, Alibaster, Serah, Shera, and Victor are mine.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Up in Flames

"Found you, Lord."

Alibaster watched as Undertaker greeted Ciel. "Your boyfriend's a weirdo, you know."

Melony rolled her eyes. "You know, I know that. You don't have to comment that every time we run into eachother."

"I know that, but it's fun."

Victor closed his eyes. The four of them were in the cargo hold of a ship that was headed back to London. Imagine their surprise when the Undertaker told them to be kept silent and then led them straight to Ciel.

"What are you doing here?" Ciel asked, glancing at them all.

"Going home," Alibaster replied. "Yourself?"

Ciel looked at him and opened his mouth to ask him where he had disappeared too during the Festival the day before but his attention was caught by the food that Undertaker held up to him; his stomach growled. He reached for it but the Undertaker pulled it aside and began to eat it himself.

"Are those…dog biscuits?" Alibaster raised a brow as they all sat down; Melony had grabbed the bowl from the Undertaker and handed it to the starving child before taking a seat next to the ex-reaper. They exchanged a sharp look with eachother before he glanced back at Ciel. Aurora had told them not to reveal everything but some hints had to be given.

"That tiny, whiny bloke Will was the one that brought me in on this expedition," Undertaker told them. "Apparently he's going to be a bit short-handed in London. He said that if I helped he would waive my library fines."

Ciel looked up. "Will's coming to London?"

"Yes, there's much work to do. We have a great many souls to collect in London this evening." Ciel pulled a face; he seemed to understand what Undertaker was implying. A shout from above reached them, Undertaker turned his head. "Ah, seems that it has begun." He glanced at Melony. "I know that you won't try to do anything, right dear?" Melony gave a frown and turned her head, arms crossed. He gave another smile.

Alibaster stood from the box he was sitting on and led the group outside to the dock. "Oh my God," He gasped out, eyes wide. London was on fire.

Undertaker gave a whistle. "Oh my. They certainly put on quite the show, don't they? And now I must be on my way," He turned to Alibaster. "I'm sure that I can trust you to take care of Melony for me, can't I?"

"Hey, I'm Pregnant, not stupid." Melony told him, crossing her arms again.

"No problem," Alibaster nodded. "We'll escort her home."

Undertaker gave a nod and turned to walk away. "Hold on," Ciel moved after him. "Tell me. Why did you come here?"

"You and I have our share of history, don't we?" Undertaker began. "In light of that fact, I thought we'd give you fair warning," He turned his head to look at him. "My young Earl, before much longer, you'll die."

Alibaster and Victor exchanged a look.

"I'll die?" Ciel repeated. "What do you mean?"

"It's not hard to understand that, brat," Melony replied as a woman gave off a huge scream. Ciel glanced at her before turning back to see that Undertaker had disappeared. "Well, I'm off."

"Wait a second," Alibaster grabbed Melony's wrist as she went to move away herself. "We were asked the transport you back home, so I'm afraid that you're stuck here with the rest of us."

"The hell I am," Melony hissed, ripping herself from his grip. "I am highly capable of doing things on my own. Besides, if I stick around here with the three of you any longer then I'm afraid that I'll be in terrible trouble." She turned away. "Enjoy."

Alibaster gave a sigh as she disappeared like Undertaker did. "I hate it when they do that."

"What do we do now?" Victor asked, glancing back at London.

"Stick with the kid, I guess. Besides, like I said before, no one gets to kill him except me." He turned to Ciel and saw the boy was lost in his thoughts. Clenching a fist, he dropped it on top of his head. "Knock it off, kid. We've gotten this far; let's go on to the end, shall we?"

"The boat's turning," Victor commented, watching as their boat turned from London. He watched as Ciel took off to face the Captain and gave a frown. ~What is going to happen? Where is this going to lead us? I have no doubt in my mind that Aurora will kill the Queen but where will that leave us? Right back where we were all those years ago. Sebastian will try and take Ciel's soul but Alibaster will want to be the one to kill him, making the two demon's face eachother like they had before…~

Alibaster had knocked some sense into the Captain and gotten them a rowboat to join one of the ships that were making port in London. As they got off, a set of men grabbed Ciel, asking him if was a Frenchman.

"Let go," Ciel pulled away. "What are you doing?"

"You bloody Frenchman! You started this fire in the first place, didn't you? You want to start a war with England, don't you?"

"Just wait a moment, I am not," At the sound of struggling, they all turned to see another man being attacked, his wife crying.

"Seems the Queen got what she wanted, doesn't it?" Alibaster asked, a frown on his face.

"London has literally turned into a hell on earth," Victor commented, moving further into the city. Everything was in a panic as people ran and screamed and all sorts of things. Alibaster grabbed Ciel to keep him from falling to the ground after he was shoved. "What do we do?" Victor asked. "How do we stop this?"

"Can we stop it, should be the question," Alibaster replied, walking further into the city.

It wasn't long before they ran into Mey-Rin and the others.

"What are you doing here?" Ciel demanded,

Mey-Rin backed up. "Oh dear. I'm so very sorry, my Lord, I know it's my duty to protect the estate but I-"

"Calm down, babe," Alibaster placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just tell us what's wrong."

"It's…" She began to let tears fall. "It's Pluto."

"What about Pluto?" Ciel asked.

Victor took a step forward. "Don't tell me that he's the one who did all this!"

"What?" Ciel asked, looking at him. "Why would he-"

"Think about it," Alibaster began, shaking his head. "Pluto was given to us by Angela to begin with, wasn't he? Perhaps she was placing him there for this exact purpose," He looked at the woman. "Where are he and the others?"

"We're trying to tranquilize him; he's on a rampage!" Mey-Rin answered, turning to lead them the way.

"Holy shit," Alibaster looked up at the huge dog that was shooting fire out of it's mouth down at the city. "Now, tell me, how can this be seen like it's the French's fault? I swear, we humans are morons."

Victor had to agree.

"Master!" Finnian and Baldaroy turned on Mey-Rin. "What were you thinking, bringing the Master here?"

"He said to. It's not my place to say no!"

"Pluto!" Ciel cried, looking up at the dog. Alibaster lifted his head to take a deep breath, trying to sort out what to do and he caught sight of something very…strange. He saw a set of forms standing on top of the building above them. Ashe and Sebastian.

~What the hell is bird-boy doing with that bastard?~ Alibaster asked himself. ~He's not working with them, is he? He doesn't have some back-plan like Aurora has, does he?~

"What are you up to here?" Ciel demanded, grabbing Alibaster's attention again.

"Well, we're sorry. We just wanted Pluto to be how he was again." Finnian gave a bow.

"I've already run out of tranquilizer darts." Baldaroy sighed.

"Are you idiots?" Ciel demanded. "You have real bullets, don't you?"

"Ciel…" Victor's eyes widened.

"Master, are you telling us we should shoot him?" Mey-Rin asked.

"Take a look at his eyes," Ciel replied. "His mind in already long gone. That up there isn't the Pluto that you and I knew. It's just a beast. You three know what's it's like, don't you? To have even your pride stolen away from you. To be left behind hollow. It's a tragic way to live. I order you, Mey-Rin, Finny, Bard, kill the dem-" Ciel's voice was cut off by Alibaster placing a hand over his mouth.

"I don't think Pluto's going to be much of a problem anymore, Ciel."

Ciel glanced at him for a moment before returning his gaze up to where Pluto stood. He had stopped shooting fire from his mouth and had turned his attention to a single form that floated there in front of him. "Aurora?"

"She always did have a thing for the dog," Victor smiled. "I'm sure that if anyone can calm Pluto down and knock Angela's grip off of him, it'll be her."

Ciel watched is silence as the collar around Pluto's neck broke and his red eyes turned back into their bright blue.

"She did it!" Finnian cried. "She actually did it!"

"But what is it that she did?" Mey-Rin asked.

"And how is she floating there in mid-air?" Baldaroy questioned.

"Dude, I don't think we have time to explain," Alibaster replied with a chuckle as Pluto, all happy and whatnot again, dropped down in front of them with the woman by his side. "I was wondering when you were going to show up again."

Aurora gave a grin as she continued to rub a hand on Pluto's fur. "You didn't honestly think that I was just going to run off on you like that, did you?"

"Never doubted for a second," Victor told her with his own smile.

"You," Ciel took a step forward, pulling away from Alibaster. "The Queen…is she…did you…"

Aurora's grin turned into one of those demonic ones and it gave her answer. She glanced at the trio. "You won't have to worry about Pluto going crazy any longer; their hold has been broken." She gave a soft kiss on the dog's nose before taking a step forward and holding a hand out to Ciel. "So," She continued to smile. "Do you want to go see her?" She asked. Ciel stared at her for a moment before taking another step forward.

"Wait," Alibaster took his own step forward.

"Don't worry, Alibaster," Aurora told him. "If you want to continue on with this, the best spot for you to go to next is the Tower Bridge."

"The Tower Bridge?" Victor repeated. "But-"

"Just be careful," She told them with that smile of her's as she pulled Ciel to her side again; they disappeared.

"What the hell?!" Baldaroy cried.

"You three take care of the dog," Alibaster told them. He glanced at Victor. "This game is about to end. Are you ready?"

Victor stared at where Aurora had been standing before turning to lead the way down the street in silence; Alibaster followed.

Ciel opened his eyes and found himself inside of a hall full of little statues and paintings. "Aurora. Where-" He turned around in a circle but the demon wasn't there any longer. "Why? Why did she leave again?" His voice paused at the sound of 'London Bridges' playing again. Glancing around the hall again, he realized that this was Windsor Castle. Then this room that he was now in front of…

Taking a deep breath, Ciel pushed the door open and took a look inside; he slapped a hand over his mouth. The queen's body was no longer complete. Her body had been ripped to pieces, flung all across the room and hung in a horrid manor. There was a chair in the middle of it all, across from where the chest hung, a large hole where the heart had been. Aurora had ripped Queen Victoria and King Albert apart once again. And for some reason, from the blood at the foot of the chair, Ciel had a feeling that Aurora either crushed the hearts in her hands…or she ate them.

Ciel stared at what was left of the Queen before a woman's scream whipped around to the maid that stood in the doorway. Knowing what was about to happen, Ciel took off down the hall as guards hurried towards him. He knew that he was in some deep shit now. Why? Why had Aurora left him alone here? Was it some sort of payback for what his grandparents had done to Reymond and Remora?

"Are you ready for this?"

Alibaster turned at the voice, giving a small grin. "Hello, Auntie."

"Where's Ciel?" Victor asked, looking at the demon. "And what is he doing here?"

Aurora gave a grin as Pluto, once more in his human form, scratched behind his ear. "I left Ciel with the Queen and he followed the two of you. I can't help it if you hadn't noticed him before now."

"Is that so?" Alibaster sighed, scratching his chin. "And the Queen…did you take care of her?"

"Of course," Aurora wore a grin. "Unfortunately she was already rotting away due to what they had done to her with Albert's body; I'm surprised that she even lasted that long." She gave Pluto another pat as his head rubbed against her.

"And you left Ciel there to find it alone? You know that he's going to get caught by the guards, don't you?"

"I did what I had to do," Aurora replied. "He got shot, yes, but he also got Sebastian back."

"You mean you watched what happened to him?" Victor demanded.

"Of course. It was…entertaining."

Alibaster gave a laugh. "I love you, Auntie. It's a shame that I can't have you." Turning his gaze up to the sky, he watched as a dark cloud began to form from the dead bodies that were littered across the ground. He turned his head and watched as the said cloud led right to the small form that stood on the edge of Tower Bridge. It had to be one of the Angels. "Are you ready for this?"

Victor took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak but caught himself. Aurora moved up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll keep you safe, Victor. You have no need to worry. Neither you nor Alibaster shall pass on tonight."

"And with that," Alibaster gave another grin and stepped out onto the bridge. "The final chapter begins."

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