Chapter Twenty Five
Luna had just returned to the mansion after her archery training. Suddenly, there was a sound of explosion, making her hurry towards the source: the kitchen. Strangely, it didn't sound like Bard's doing and Sebastian had temporarily confiscated all of his weapons. Also, if she recalled correctly, Bard should be peeling vegetables right now. So, who was responsible?
"Oh… Are you trying to play… With me?" An unfamiliar voice asked playfully. The swish of a blade and sounds of gunshots and broken china followed. Luna, who was pretty much infront of the kitchen, took an arrow and notched it on her bow.
"Heh, heh! Two guns at the same time is cool, but…" The same voice as before said.
Luna came just in time to see a silver haired young man dressed in white and black run towards Maylene, sword drawn. Without hesitating, Luna shot several arrows, effectively stopping him in mid-run.
Maylene continued to fire at the intruder, but the young man was faster. Thankfully, Bardroy reacted in a nick of time and swung his knife, but the hit was avoided and Maylene, unarmed.
Cursing, Luna replaced her bow with a short sword in her quiver and engaged in a duel with the unknown man. Koruru was watching the man's companion, so she should only have to deal with one opponent. They jumped to avoid blows, aimed their weapons carefully and swung their blades again and again. Quickly pulling out an arrow, Luna distracted the silver-haired man and disarmed him, barely succeeding. Both swords now in her hands, she took a defensive stance.
Before the intruders could do anything, Sebastian threw a custard choux cream towards the younger looking one, inviting him to taste it. He did so, before criticizing it.
"Hmm… Not bad… Kind of like the lowest passing grade, I guess?"
"Sebastian, who the hell are they?" Bardroy asked as the second intruder returned Maylene's glasses to their owner.
"Ah, yes… It's the first time we meet…" The silver haired man finished eating the custard. "My name is Charles Grey and my friend is Charles Phipps. People usually call us "Double Charles"… and we are Her Majesty's military secretaries and her butlers as well. Nice to meet you."
After judging Charles Grey carefully, Luna returnes him his rapier. He seemed to be not only the youngest of the duo, but also the most emotional and immature one. Despite that, he was a definite force to be reckoned with. She was definitely going to stay on her guard with him around.
"This lady should be the earl's ward… Luna Owen?" Charles Phipps said uncertainly.
Luna fell into a curtsy before exchanging a look with Sebastian, silently asking what she should do.
"Maylene," Sebastian said. "Bring Miss Luna's weapons back to her room. Be careful, they're sharp."
The maid bowed and immediately set out to relieve Luna of her load. Earl Grey looked at Luna strangely as Maylene left the kitchen. He heard about her, mostly from the Middlefords, Marquis Middleford to be exact. He always boasted about how strong and how cute his future daughter-in-law was, even though his son has yet to begin to court her. They said that she was mute, but acted as dignified as Marchioness Middleford. Also, when the Kelvin manor had burned down, she was the one who saved all of those children. She also managed to disarm him…
He is definitely going to have a rematch with her. The lady's skills with the sword were impressive and there was no denying that she had an exotic feel to her… If he hadn't known of her parentage beforehand, he would have thought that she was Chinese or Japanese… Asian anyway. She certainly looked the part.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he saw that Luna was waiting for him to explain what he was doing in the manor. "The both of us are here today…" He took out a letter. "…to give this to Earl Phantomhive."
ooOOOOoOOOOoOOOooooOOOooOOOOooOOOOooo
"Very well then." Charles Grey said. "Now, for the job the Queen has for "Watchdog" Earl Phantomhive…"
"Outside of Preston, there's a Catholic abbey that was burned down during the Reformation, and is no longer in use." Charles Phipps explained. "A cult espousing deviant doctrines is gathering there. We have heard that its leader has the Doomsday Books of all the followers."
"You mean the land registers, where their livestock and property are recorded?" Ciel asked. "But why would he want to know that?"
Luna shook her head. I doubt it. If it has anything to do with the occult, then it's the Doomsday Books are registers required when you stand before the Lord in heaven on the Day of Judgment. All your sins and good works are supposedly recorded there.
"Well, well, would you look at that?" Charles Grey chuckled. "It looks like your ward is even more intelligent than yourself, Earl Phantomhive."
Ciel sighed at the butler's childishness before turning his attention back to the problem at hand. "The occult again, huh?"
"There are rumors that they plan to revolt against the government." Charles Phipps explained. "Her Majesty laments that the people of Preston are quaking in fear of these heretics."
"And?" Ciel leaned on his armchair. "Are you telling me to disperse them, or, are you telling me to eradicate them?"
Charles Grey gave an almost evil smirk. "We leave that decision to you."
Both butlers departed soon after that, leaving Ciel, Luna and Sebastian with tea. The dessert of the day was Victoria Sponge Cake and the tea was, ironically, Earl Grey.
"According to Phipps, the abbey is heavily guarded." Sebastian told his masters as he poured the tea.
"So it would be difficult to go in through the front door..." Ciel concluded.
"Incidentally, he also mentioned that a large number of coffins have been delivered there in recent days." Sebastian added.
Luna simply frowned as Ciel's mood went down a bit at the thought of visiting the Undertaker. However, her thoughts were swirling around the information they received. It was almost as though the Queen was being particularly harsh with them, but shouldn't inviting that German be enough trouble?
Later that day, the trio arrived in Undertaker's shop for help and information.
"I'm coming in!" Ciel called out loud as they entered.
The Undertaker chuckled. "Welcome," he greeted from beside a coffin. Funny… He usually stayed hidden before making a surprising appearance…
"I have a favor to ask, Undertaker." Ciel told the undertaker.
"In that case…" "Undertaker" turned around slowly. He then ran towards the trio, his wig and hat having fallen off, revealing his identity. "Give me prime romance!"
He ended up slamming into the door as Sebastian avoided his attack without a second thought. A skull fell on his head as he turned back towards us.
"Grell?" Ciel exclaimed in surprise. Well, this was the last place he expected to see the Grim Reaper… I suppose.
"Hello, my lord." A more familiar voice said from a pot.
"Undertaker?" Certainly, there Undertaker was, buried in salt and, since Grell took his clothes, probably clothed in only his undergarments.
"The bounder told me he wasn't afraid of Grim Reapers." Grell told us. "So I buried him in salt."
"Oh, I just love the sensation of all the moisture in my body leeching out of my skin!" He exclaimed. Luna looked at him strangely before sighing. That's what happens when one hangs out with particular people.
"A dangerous game." Sebastian said as Luna nodded.
"What are you doing here?!" Ciel turned his attention to the red-haired Reaper.
"Will's having me do a bit of investigating." Grell replied. Luna blinked her eyes as she realized that William was Grell's superior. "But there was just no information, and I got hungry and sleepy… So I took a nap in a flowerbed, and woke up to find myself here. Perhaps I shouldn't have stopped breathing while I slept?" Seriously? "I was waiting for a prince to come wake me with a kiss (with tongue)!" Luna gulped, holding in the urge to vomit.
"What are you investigating?" Sebastian asked, ignoring the Reaper's desires.
"Oh, we've had some Cinematic Records stolen lately." Grell said off-handedly.
Undertaker's smile faded momentarily as Ciel turned towards Grell. "Cinematic Records?"
"Not something a kid like you needs to know about." Grell replied in self-importance.
Actually, Luna thought, Ciel was probably the only kid in the world who needs to know.
"They're reels of film containing all memories of a person's life." Sebastian replied. "Grim Reapers extract them from those on the To-Die list, replay them, and decide whether they will live or die."
"Just so we're clear, you humans can only see them when you die." Grell clarified.
"Are Cinematic Records the sort of things that can be "stolen"?" Sebastian asked.
"Mmm… They're stored in the library when we're not using them." Grell told us, not caring at all that William may demote him even more because of that. "The full list of people still living—in other words, of everyone on the To-Die list: all the crimes, everything… in the form of books."
"So they're books made in preparation for Doomsday," Ciel realized. Luna was deep in thought, wondering who gave the Queen all of the information on the abbey. It was getting too… suspicious.
"That rings a bell, doesn't it?" Sebastian asked.
Undertaker lick a lot of salt. "Undertaker, there's something I want you help with." Ciel told him.
"Hehe… Then, give me prime laughter…" Undertaker turned towards his other guests. "On second thought, I'll do this free of charge."
(Sebastian's POV)
We were all in different coffins, waiting for the Undertaker to distract the guard enough so that we can enter the abbey. Due to the distance, by the time we arrived, it was already dusk.
"I've come to deliver the coffins you ordered." Undertaker told the guard.
"Coffin, sir?" The guard asked. "No one informed me of this…" Now that was strange, weren't coffins being delivered inside the abbey often these days?
"I have the order right here…" I heard Undertaker say. "Hmm, where did I put it?" I could hear him fumbling through his robes and getting all kinds of objects from his pockets, mostly metallic. "Here? No, here?"
The young master and I quickly got out of the first coffin while Grell got out of another. Miss Luna was already behind the bushes, thanks to her nekomata's abilities.
"All right," the guard said. "Please come in then." He turned towards us. "And you too."
We left our hiding spot (not that it had been a good one), surprised.
"Well, I'll be off then." Undertaker told us. "I've finished what I came to do."
"I see. Thank you." The guard told Undertaker. "May your soul be cleansed."
We followed the guard inside the abbey as he brought the coffins.
"I thought it was supposed to be difficult to get here." The young master whispered to me. Luna wasn't paying too much attention, deep in thought. So she has noticed as well…
"Yes," I replied as evenly as I could. "I was under that impression…"
We passed a man and two women carrying vegetables, presumably coming from the garden. They bowed and smiled to us, welcoming us amongst them.
"Perfect smiles, huh." The young master stated, Miss Luna agreeing with him.
"Shouldn't that be educational for you, since you've forgotten how?" I teased him.
"Don't be dull. Those smiles are fake." My young master retorted.
Afterwards, the guard led us to the church inside the abbey and went off to take the coffins somewhere. We entered the building, taking in the scenery and hoping to find clues. The young master hurried between the rows of seats when he saw the symbol that had been burned on his skin. Miss Luna and I followed quietly after him.
"Young master?" I tried to make sure that he was still with us as he looked at the symbol in shock.
"Good evening!" Some boys entered and greeted us cheerfully.
"Another wonderful day today, wasn't it?" One of them asked us.
"Well, aren't you cute?" Grell told them. "I don't really do kids, though." Too much information.
"Hello, unclean one!" The boy with glasses greeted him. "You're impure through and through, I see."
"What?!" Grell exclaimed in anger.
"Hmm?" The brown-haired boy asked. "What's the matter, unclean one? Are you ill?"
Grell hit the boy on the head. "You little brat! Who are you calling "unclean"?" You, of course, unless you are stupid enough to not acknowledge that.
"Wah!" The boy screamed. "An unclean one touched me!"
"We need to be cleansed!" The boy with glasses exclaimed.
Seeing their weak spot, Grell chased after them. "Get back here!"
The boys were about to run outside when a nun came in. "Another unclean one!"
The nun only smiled at the children and let them passed, also stopping the vulgar Reaper in the process. "Everyone over a certain age is called unclean." She explained to us, smiling. "I see from your clothing that you're new converts. Don't worry. If you study the teachings of our leader, your body will be cleansed."
"I say!" The young master declared. "Is this place-?" I stopped him from speaking any further.
"Unclean?" I asked as I walked towards her. "That's funny. I can't believe that a beautiful lady like yourself is impure." I made her back against the door, blushing. This really is no fun when the prey falls easily, but for the sake of my master, I guess that I'll just have to use "that way" to make her talk.
"I don't know anything about your sect yet." I admitted. "Would you mind telling me?"
"All right… But then, why did you come here?" The girl asked weakly like a little mouse.
I slammed my hand next to her head, shocking her as she blushed even harder. I closed in the space between our faces before pulling back. "A bug." I showed it to her and blew it away. "You'll tell me, won't you?"
Soon enough, we were alone inside a barn, the others waiting patiently outside. I must admit that it was easy to use a virgin who has been quite sheltered, but I did not dare to use my usual approach. Perhaps I have been getting soft around Miss Luna… Then again, she belongs to me, and me only so I guess that it would be bad to show her this side of me.
Thus, I only toyed with the nun, but my was she loud. I wouldn't be surprised if half of the abbey found out about this already had we not chosen a more secluded area. When she was finally going to tell us what we wished to know, I allowed her to put her clothes back on and once that was done, I let the others enter.
"The Doomsday Books of those who have lived a long time are impure." The nun told us as she brushed her hair. "Our leader cleanses the unclean passages. And we're told not only the past, but the future is recorded there."
"The future, eh?" I repeated.
"Yes. But only the chosen children of the heavenly choir can be told it." The nun replied.
"The heavenly choir?" The young master repeated. "What do they do, sing rhymes?"
"I believe "sing" may not be the right word…" I was getting a strange feeling about that as the nun gave me a meaningful look. "But I hear beautiful voices from our leader's bedchamber…"
We returned to the vicinity of the church to discuss our plans. Miss Luna seemed to be sadder than before… And Koruru doesn't seem to appreciate me too much right now… I guess that she still didn't take my method too well…
"If only young boys are chosen for the heavenly choir, that means you are the only one who can get close to their leader." I told the young master.
"Rubbish!" Grell exclaimed out of nowhere, dressed in a uniform much too small for him. "I could easily get into the heavenly choir!" He made a few poses. "Well, how do I look?"
Beside him was a small boy in his undergarments, crying about him stealing the clothes. Seriously, when it isn't the servants, it's someone else making noise…
The young master was about to comment when he heard some noises and music.
"Oh! It's time for the leader's cleansing ceremony!" The boy exclaimed happily.
"Cleansing?" Grell repeated.
I sniffed the air a bit. "I was right; it smells wrong." Miss Luna looked at me, hoping for an explanation. However, instead of giving her one, I looked at the person hiding near one of the windows on the other building.
"What is it?" The young master asked.
"Oh, I just smelled a rotten apple fallen from a tree, that's all."
Miss Luna looked at me in disbelief, but I could see the gears in her head turning, trying to find an explanation for my explanation.
We soon went into the church where all of the people have gathered, praying. We sat in the back, the young master at the end of the bench, me between him and Miss Luna, and Grell sulking at the other end.
The leader, dressed in white and red robes went on the altar, his face hidden from view. "Here, tonight, the sinful unclean will be made pure."
Two members of the sect undressed two of their own, letting us see the big black marks on their back. The same as the young master's, only much, much bigger. They knelt on the floor as another person took two books and handed them to their leader.
"Are those Cinematic Records?" I asked Grell quietly.
"Too far away to tell," he replied with an annoyed tone.
"I shall read the Doomsday Books of these impure, lost children." The leader opened the first book. "Jill Peasant. The second daughter of a farmer, she conceived a child at fifteen. Thomas Atkins. No especially evil deeds, but he has spent his life meaninglessly. That is a grave sin."
Suddenly, the bodies of the two were surrounded by darkness as they screamed in pain. Their fellow believers just prayed for their sake without interfering. Then, the stained glass directly in front of us began to shine brightly. We could see their pasts through that stained glass as scenes changed one after another.
"Snuff out the unworthy. Snuff out the unnecessary." The leader chanted. "Snuff out the unfruitful. Snuff out the unclean!"
The scenes in the stained glass shattered, making the two people wither in pain as the light died down. Miss Luna shook as they were dressed and taken away. That chant was too familiar for her liking it seems…