This chapter is longer than usual and that's what actually took me more of the usual time. Anyway, hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji

XXXV.

" Hello, hello everyone! " Millenia entered the library happily.

It was a rather spacious room with two big windows to the north. The walls from both left and right sides were turned into shelves with two armchairs for both sides. The feeling of emptiness in the centre of the room was avoided by the cleverly placed desk with a chair in front of the windows.

Gael and Undertaker were on the far left side and were speaking something quietly, until Millenia interrupted them.

" Now, now..." Millenia's eyes were sparkling with excitement as she headed directly to Undertaker.

She started circling around him in wonder. Ravenna had placed her hand on her mouth, which wasn't really helping her not to laugh at the scene.

When Undertaker's eyes met hers, she shrugged.

" Sorry. My fault."

" My, my what a treasure... " Millenia continued her observation.

" Uhm, what are you doing, dear? " Gael followed her moves with narrowed eyes.

" Nothing, nothing... just admiring."

" Is that so?"

" Yes. I have a unique shinigami in my house. Is that a problem?"

Gael raised an eyebrow.

" What is so unique about him?"

" Shinigami usually call them "oversensitive", but the original adjective is the Latin "eximius" which stands for "exceptional, extraordinary". Far closer in both meaning and description, I may say. These shinigami are a biit different. For a starter... thunderstorms."

" Thunderstorms? " Ravenna asked.

" Yes, you can't sleep on thunderstorms, right?"

Undertaker gazed upon Millenia thoughtfully and slightly shook his head.

" I can't."

" You hearing is just better than ours and while ordinary shinigami like us feel slightly uncomfortable during thunderstorms, they're painful to you."

" Sort of... yes. " He smiled to her. " But it's not that bad when you get used to it."

" That really is interesting. " Ravenna folded arms. " What else?"

" You instinctively talk quietly, because the high decibels hurt you."

" I haven't really thought about that... " Undertaker pondered.

" And also, most intriguing, your emotions are quite... stronger than usual. Not that you're showing more than usual, but... You know, I actually don't know what that means, I've read about that anomaly and I'm not sure what it is like."

" It's quite a problem. " Undertaker lowered his eyes and sighed. " I've tried not to carry people's pain and sorrow, to forget it. Probably that's what the other death gods have. They naturally pass through the fear in the eyes of a dying child and carry on, without it haunting their thoughts every day and their dreams every night. I can't do that. I've never done it and I doubt that I ever will."

He finished and raised his head, feeling everyone's eyes on him.

" So being like you is pretty much a curse from what I hear. " Gael added.

" Oh, well... . " Millenia frowned. " I'm afraid that you might be right. Although there's something interesting that I just remembered."

She looked upon Undertaker again.

" Have you been with someone... before Raven. I mean, have you been emotionally attached with someone...

" Auntie. " Ravenna stopped her with an even tone. " What are you doing?"

Undertaker stared at Millenia in silence.

" Sorry. I'm really sorry. " Millenia's expression suddenly changed as if Undertaker's eyes had threatened her in some way. " Don't answer that. It's not that important. I was just curious."

The Undertaker shifted his eyes from Millenia and fixed them on Ravenna, who, on the other side, wasn't really sure what happened in front of her eyes just now.

" There are, however, some things here that are more interesting than me."

" What do you mean? " Ravenna inquired.

He walked to her and raised her chin thoughtfully.

" Why are your eyes blue, Ravenna?"

" Because... My mother's origin comes from a northern side of Sweden, however strange it may sound. " Ravenna answered him. " Her family is like that. I've seen it many times. The women are all blue eyed. It's strange, because that eye color is very rare in shinigami."

"It only passes through generations through the daughters. My brothers had green eyes like my dad. I carry my mother's genetic code and I ended up with blue eyes. At least that's what I know.

" Blue eyed shinigami..." Millenia started and both Ravenna and The Undertaker faced her. " are something very special. They have unusually sharp sense for the others."

" What? " Ravenna exhaled in surprise.

Millenia paused for a second and then continued, looking at Undertaker.

" I even have an example. There was this one time when she was little and came to me in tears and told me that her little brother's sick. Nobody could've noticed that he'd caught a cold, because he looked completely fine."

"But he started coughing on the other day. She's not only sensing conditions, but emotions and moods too. In fact she's affected by them. I know, because her mother was the same. Exceptionally empathetic, with strong connection with the others around her.

" I see. That could explain... the dream. " Undertaker glanced at Ravenna.

" Dream? " Millenia inquired.

" Although... she didn't know me at all back then, we found ourselves in the same dream. Not really clear as a construction, but still... we both knew of each other's presence."

" Did you? " Millenia exclaimed joyful. " That's incredible. There were actually a couple of times when Lychna did that. But it was with people she was fond of."

" Really? " Ravenna asked silently with a disappointment written on her face. " My own mother? Even she hadn't told me that I can actually do that."

" Yes. " Millenia replied firmly.

Ravenna watched her at a loss of words.

" So, that is everything that's special about her? " Undertaker intruded the upcoming controversy.

" Well..." Millenia started, but was interrupted by her husband.

" That's all we know."

Millenia glanced at her husband for a second.

" Yes, that's all. " She showed a corroborant smile.

" Alright. " Undertaker agreed, deep within him a flame of doubt burning, but he remained silent.

Ravenna sat on one of the armchairs slowly, her eyes distant.

" But why?"

" Why what? " Millenia turned to her.

" Why haven't you ever told me that I can literally mirror others' emotions and... create such strong connections? " Ravenna demanded. " Keeping it in secret for years? Decades?"

" We didn't want to scare you, dear. " Gael spoke to her. " You were living like a human. Most of your life was normal and happy without the madness of shinigami."

" And... we thought that it's best for you to... save you the details. " Millenia continued.

Ravenna stared at her uncle for while. She was completely astonished, but seemed to somehow accept their words.

" Like that's a proper reason to hide from me such abilities... " Sighed she irritated. " I knew that suffering so much for every little event wasn't in the order of things."

Undertaker remained silent as his thoughts were furious with all this new information. He had it in his mind from a long time. This question. Why was the blue color of Ravenna's eyes? Obviously there was something special about them after all.

The interesting part was that Gael and Millenia didn't seem really trustful and they were surely hiding something. The was more than what they revealed. Perhaps Ravenna could help him with that. But a conversation with her in private was kind of hard at the moment.

His eyes ran through the shelves filled with books, some of which were maybe older than him. A single one drew his attention. He got the feeling that he had seen that one somewhere. It was familiar.

He took it absently and opened it slowly, drawn by this feeling. It looked like... poetry. The verses sounded ancient, most of them were cheerful, some of them sad. He turned over the pages to the end and there was something written on the cover.

A hand-written verse... fading, small letters. Black ink. It was clearly written fast, because the words were barely discernable. "The blood of-"

Gael grabbed the book from his hands.

" Didn't I tell you not to touch anything? " He turned the book back in the library.

Undertaker's curiosity enflamed as he looked at the book and the to Gael.

" Was that..."

" Don't. " Gael warned him, his voice drawing the attention of the other two in the room.

" An incantation? " Undertaker whispered, slightly narrowing his eyes.

" No, it wasn't."

" Yes, it was. What did it say? I couldn't see the end."

" You don't need an end. " Gael fumed at him.

He looked at his wife angered and she shook her head with a worried expression. Ravenna stood up, closing up to her uncle.

" Uncle, what are you still hiding from us?"

" This just can't be true. " Gael murmured and struck Undertaker with a dead glare. " From all the books you had to take that one. Without my permission."

He slowly rest his forehead in his head as if he was tired and sighed.

" You're right. It was an incantation. A really, really old one. In fact one of the oldest in the history of shinigami. " He made a pause. " It is, considered by many, to be the key to immortality. Although we can never be certain. Simply because the ones that want to try if it really carries that power must step over many of the prohibitions in the shinigami realm."

Ravenna glanced at Undertaker whose eyes were nailed to the ground, filled with an unknown for her emotion. A shiver ran through her body, a strange feeling rose inside her as she looked into his eyes.

There was something intimidating in the way he was watching, as if she stared into just a small piece of a madness beyond her understanding. His eyes contained something that scared her. She realized that she hadn't seen everything.

He was much more than what she knew. Thinking that she knows him better than the others seemed ridiculous and even laughable. She didn't like that. She didn't like it at all, that look of his, that she couldn't read.

Ravenna wanted to stop Gael from talking, knowing what kind of memories his words were calling to Undertaker, but nothing seemed to escape her lips.

" Stealing away human souls? " Undertaker asked, his eyes still on the ground.

Gael turned his gaze on him.

" Yes. But... not only that."

Undertaker raised his head in surprise, his eyes were on fire.

" Not only? What else?"

Ravenna was aware that her uncle's answer was the thing that he'd searched all his life. Her stomach was shrunk with uneasiness. She didn't quite know why. It could be... The answer to immortality... it could trigger something dangerous in him. She somehow felt bad by the thought of that.

" Stealing away shinigami souls. " Gael stated.

Undertaker covered his mouth with the back of his hand thoughtfully.

" Are you alright? " Asked Ravenna quietly, feeling unable to speak louder.

Her tone made him raise his eyes to meet hers.

" Yes... yes. I'm fine. " She felt the urge to be close to him for a moment. But the distance between them, although they sat in the same room, seemed too long. Ravenna wanted to say so many things, but he tore his eyes from her, turning to her uncle again. It felt like he had cut the only connection she had with him.

" The pith of ten that meet the End

combine into a sacred place.

Only fragments of immortal sand

will keep them bound and wide awake." Gael quoted.

" Ten humans. " Undertaker started slowly.

" Yes. Combining the records of ten humans into one. The fragments of immortal sand are-"

" Shinigami souls."

" That's right. Adding a shinigami soul probably brings immortal life to the new formed life.

" Yeah. Probably... " Added Undertaker carried away.

" Auntie? " Ravenna decided that she wouldn't take any more information this day. " Would you, please... give us a moment?"

Millenia looked at her, then at her husband.

" Of course, my dear. Not a problem. " She stood up and a smile lit up her features. " I'm going to set out the table, because we're going to have a dinner."

" We weren't going to stay for long. " Undertaker suddenly intervened.

" You're not going anywhere, dear." She commanded him with a domineering intonation.

Gael crossed the room and led his wife quietly out of the room.

Ravenna observed silently the man in front of her for a while, while he was furrowing at the wooden door, still not being able to accept the defeat in his brief conversation with Millenia in which she didn't give him time to even try to oppose her.

He had folded his arms, probably unconsciously, in a defensive position. Soon his eyes changed back into their natural, weary state.

" You're pale. " She remarked, approaching him slowly with her hands clasped behind her. " Stop thinking about it."

" I could've..." He looked at her, his eyes lit up again. " Reach it. Immortality. I've been so close, Ravenna."

She didn't like that condition, it was too different from what she knew. Perhaps that was his happiness, she thought, she had never seen him happy and that could be it.

" You realize that-"

" Oh God! " He suddenly snapped, eyes widening in shock.

" Undertaker?"

" Indeed! Ten letters. Ten humans. He kills humans with the letters of my name, coinciding with the first letters of theirs."

" Oh. How can you... know that? " Ravenna folded hands in surprise. " Many people are dying in London every day..."

" He carves my name in Latin on the victims' hands. There's no way anyone could mistake it. By now I know of eight killed. " He exhaled loudly. " I can't believe it. He wants to create immortality. That's why he is killing shinigami on the first place."

" What if he had already killed the last two? " She asked him full of worry.

" Then things have gotten really bad. We really need to go back to the Department. William should have information about it."

Strong wind blew from the outside, the windows rattled restlessly as if the winter reminded of herself. It seemed that it had begun snowing heavily and by the look of it, it wasn't going to stop soon.

" It's completely dark and I'm not sure it's a good idea for us to go out now. " Ravenna's words came out as a natural response after glancing at the weather outside.

" It's impossible to walk in that storm, I agree. " He said absently.

" Undertaker? " Ravenna stepped forward, slightly raising her head to meet the confused pair of green eyes in front of her that she hadn't realized how much she adored.

" Yes? " His attention fully hers now.

" Are you truly going to stop him?" She asked carefully, trying to use his confusion to get an honest answer. " You told me many things about your life, but you never explained to me why did you put so much effort in creating immortality... for humans."

" Don't worry. I got over that long time ago. " He replied calmly. "Humans are just not meant to be immortal. God's will. Can't change it. Any other abominations shouldn't exist."

She almost felt it. That cold denial. He refused to tell her and there was no doubt that he had no intentions of telling her about it at all.

" It was someone you love, I see. A human. " Her eyes became softer. " A woman, perhaps?"

He stepped backwards, his expression changed drastically. She suddenly frightened that she had said too much and stretched her hand to him, trying to reach him, but his behavior towards her seemed to be completely locked away. Only the cold shell remained.

" Please..." Ravenna begged him, feeling like something had pierced her cruelly, leaving her with the realization that it has all slipped from her hands. She had no power over him anymore.

At least that kind of power she felt whenever she was in his presence, that strange power, like the world is yours and to the person you're with, like you two are invincible and happy, so happy. It was gone now, taken away from her and she was so frightened, because it she might have lost it forever.

" If these are Teryx's plans, he won't be aiming you and you're not in danger anymore. " Undertaker turned to the window and stared at his own reflection, created due to the darkness outside. " Which means that you can stay here and I can go to the Department on my own."

Ravenna wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the knocking on the door.

" Yes? " She asked hollow.

" Dinner's ready! " Millenia's cheerful voice reached them.

Thank you for reading! Have a nice day and if you want let me know what you think.