A butler greeted them upon arrival.

As soon as the pair stepped into the portal, they were greeted with a familiar demon with turquoise eyes and slick black hair.

"Nathan."

Nathan greeted Rune without the slightest visible emotion before proceeding to bow. "The Master is expecting the both of you. But first, he would like you two to clean up and rest before meeting him."

Going all this way, and it seemed like as if Lucifer couldn't even be bothered to see them. Something in Rune snapped, and she struggled to remain calm. She would've screamed and demanded to immediately see the demon prince in the past, but it was different now. This was a one-way game. Rune knew there was nothing she could do to change things as they currently are.

The realization of just how much she had matured over the past hours(?) surprised her.

So despite the high chances of the offer being a trap, Rune when along with it. Rune had anticipated that the interior of the place would be similar to those or classic gothic castles, but she was wrong. It was just like any other mansion she'd been to.

Nathan led them into sets of corridors and hallways as endless and confusing as those in Beelzebub's biscuit house. Before they started walking, Rune had looked back. She was already expecting it, so it did not really surprise her that the portal they came through had completely disappeared.

Sebastian kept his guard up and his eyes open for any signs of traps. He knew his mistress wasn't that foolish enough to just waltz into a trap like that, and he also knew that his other self was as cunning as he can be. There was just no way he would let them take a rest and heal up without sabotaging them or doing something similar.

After some time, Nathan stopped in front of a room and fished out a set of keys before proceeding to unlock the doors.

"This will be your room, Lady Rune," he said. Rune stared at him, her eyebrows knitted in suspicion. If the demon saw it, he didn't react.

"Your butler's room will be next door." The lock clicked and he opened the door. "If there's anything you need, please do not hesitate to seek for any of the servants."

With that, he turned and disappeared into the hallways.

Sebastian personally did the checking for traps in his mistress's room. Surprisingly, he found nothing. Rune was expecting to find all kinds of bad stuff like an exploding bed, or a bathtub filled with poisonous snakes, or even a knife throwing cupboard.

But nothing was detected. All the more for them to feel dubious.

"Alright," Rune decided. "You go rest in your room. If anything goes wrong… you'll probably know anyway."

"But are you sure, milady?" Sebastian protested slightly. "There might still be-"

"I'll be fine," Rune cut him off. "If he wanted to kill us he would've done it ages ago as soon as we stepped in. Now let's rest while we can."

Sebastian hesitated, but he finally gave in. All these time he'd been serving this strange girl, and he'd still not gotten used to her persistent personality. With a sigh, he turned and headed outside. "Have a pleasant rest, Young Mistress." He bowed and closed the mahogany door.

Rune exhaled and sat on the foot of her bed, fixing her gaze on the ceiling. This couldn't be real. How could there be a rest stop in the middle of a rescue mission?

She glanced around. The room was plain, but she couldn't be bothered much about it. Peaceful yet eerie silence filled the place.

It seemed wrong. Rune shouldn't be sitting there and staring and wasting time like that. Ciel was somewhere in that castle, and so was Lucifer. They shouldn't be relaxing right now.

Then again, she thought of Sebastian. A demon he may be, but surely he too, was exhausted. All this while, Sebastian had done most of the fighting after all and that must've sapped a lot of his energy.

Maybe she didn't need it, but Rune figured it would be best to let Sebastian regain his strength while he had the chance.

Rune looked down stared at her own arms. When they descended into the Underworld, Rune wore a long sleeved shirt that covered most of her bandages and scars. Now her sleeves were ripped off and the original bandages were tattered. Numerous bruises and cuts stretched across her arms. She might not look like it, but Rune was pretty much beaten up herself.

Meanwhile, Sebastian had not taken his mistress's request as an order and he did not rest in the room prepared for him as asked. He stood right outside Rune's doors, keeping watch in case anything happens. He could sense it – his master was somewhere very close, and he had the biggest urge to go get it over and done with.

Sebastian sighed as a tired smile tugged the corners of his mouth. He couldn't believe he actually had that desire to act so rashly. Maybe it was his mistress that affected him..

It was barely noticeable at first, but slowly, the Faustian crest on his right stung. For a split moment, Sebastian thought that maybe Rune was in trouble, but he was proved otherwise when the door jerked opened and that very person looked out.

Rune was rubbing her right palm with her other hand and the look on her face was a mixture of pain and panic. She didn't even seem the slight surprised when she saw her butler just outside her door.

"Do you feel it?" she asked, a droplet of perspiration trailing down the side of her cheek. Apparently, the stinging on Rune's contract sign was getting to the point of excruciating pain.

Sebastian nodded. "The Young Master is very close, and he's in danger."

"But.. where exactly is he?"

The demon pursed his lips. He could feel Ciel somewhere nearby, but only very faintly and it was not enough to determine his exact location. They couldn't risk losing their way in the corridors, either. Things are going to be harder than they seem.

Rune stood and thought for a moment, then without a word, she headed back into the room and walked straight to the window. She pushed the glass doors open and stuck her head outside. A blast of wind rippled her hair and Rune gasped at what she saw.

Right below them was a chasm approximately twenty feet deep with not so friendly looking spikes at the very bottom. About fifty feet right ahead was a tall tower isolated from the rest of the building, and from what Rune could see, there was no way in except for the lone window at the very top of it.

The sting on her hand worsened and Rune winced from the pain. "That must be it," she decided and turned to her butler and cocked her head towards the tower. "Ciel's over there, I'm sure of it."

Sebastian didn't even need to be told his orders. In five seconds he was lifting his mistress up on his back and crouching on the windowsill, ready to take a leap. Rune was too surprised to do anything but yelp in a voice just an octave higher than normal when he took a plunge.

How Sebastian could cover a distance of fifty feet in one jump, Rune did not want to know. She closed her eyes tight and hung on for all she was worth, silently trying to convince herself again and again that everything would be alright.

Rune felt a soft thud, followed by another leap, and she opened her eyes. Apparently, even Sebastian could do leap a distance that far. He had tried the practical way. Every now and then he would land on one of the spikes below before propelling himself upwards and forward.

The sharpness of the spikes didn't seem to bother the demon at all. Sebastian stepped on them with ease as he made his way towards the tower. Rune on the other hand, was gripping the fabric of her butler's coat so tightly, her knuckles went white. She could've sworn her heart stopped everytime Sebastian landed to jump.

After what seemed to be a very scary forever, Sebastian took one final jump and climbed in through the window.

Rune glanced around and studied her surroundings as her butler let her down. The tower must be bigger than she thought, because the chamber they entered was as wide and spacious as the foyer back at Whitefield Mansion.

A cherrywood coffin lay on the very centre of the chamber, its lid off and placed leaning against the main body. A body of a young boy lay atop the frenzy of flowers that filled more than half of the coffin, his hand clasped together and resting on his chest.

Ciel.

Rune rushed forward but Sebastian caught her arm. "Not yet."

For a moment, Rune couldn't comprehend. Ciel was just right there, yet why was Sebastian trying to stop her?

"Let-"

She stopped short when laughter echoed through the room. Next to Ciel's coffin, a form shimmered into existence.

The person standing between them and Ciel, was no other than Lucifer.

I'm late, and this chapter is so short and meaningless.

PLEASE FORGIVE ME! *gets on knees and bows like an idiot* I'M SO SORRYYYY QAQ

My idea scale in currently very close to zero and it takes alot of work just to write some random things out on the spot TT~TT I'm so sorry again!

Excuse my mistakes! Kuroshitsuji is not mine.