A.N. I finally got the ship arc done! There is one more chapter after this one, and if I get al least 20 reviews by tonight, I'll post the other chapter!
"A death scythe!" The redhead's shout of disbelief echoed in the lounge. The mortician twirled the scythe in his right hand, and held it in a loose grip. A blackish mist came off the weapon as it finished materializing. Grell and Ronald were glaring at the older reaper from their spots in the floor while Sebastian stayed a bit further back to observe the new development. The burns on his skin were not healing quickly, and the pain they caused seemed to be affecting his mobility.
"So death scythes cannot cut another death scythe. This does make things a bit more complicated," The black haired man stated as his eyes took in the large blade. The sharp green eyes of my companion darted over to the demon. Ronald coughed up some blood as he sat up. He wiped the blood off his chin with a pained grimace. "I thought scythes were confiscated when a grim reaper retired."
Adrian cackled at the boy as he set the hilt of the scythe on the floor. Just having the death scythe standing next to him put the magnitude of the object in a new perspective. A clawed hand lovingly drifted across the massive blade with a light touch. The weapon gave off an answering pulse of fondness when its master petted it.
"I couldn't staaaand to part with mine. We had been together for sooooo long, I had a difficult time sneaking to out with meee." The insane grin was back on his face as he pulled the blade over his head. It looks like the silver haired man was done playing around. It was his turn to hunt. I took a leap backwards from my partner to get out of his range.
"If that was the best you three could dooooo, I think I'll take my turn at being the hunter!" The silver sheen of the scythe flashed as Adrian swung the blade at his three opponents. All three The powerful weapon sliced through several of the columns holding the second story up. The floor shook with the sudden destabilization, and debris fell from above.
I heard Ciel let out a shout from the opposite side of the room. About a dozen or so of the dolls had been knocked over to him when the rogue reaper destroyed the support system of the second floor, and they were closing in on the immobile boy. Before the navy haired child could call out for his protector, I jumped and landed on the stairs in front of the little Earl.
"What do you think you're doing?" The pack of corpses moaned at me as they stopped a few feet ahead of me. I crossed my arms over my chest and gave them a disapproving look. I could feel the amused gaze of Adrian and the shocked gaze of Ciel, Sebastian, Ronald, and Grell on my form. I sighed at the doll of a young man when he made a noise that almost sounded like a question. Walking over to the cadaver, I patted him on the head making everyone look at me in alarm except my partner.
"Yes, I know, but I told all of you before, this boy is not for eating." More noises came from him, and I giggled a bit when I translated that to whining. "There, there, dear. I'm sure we can find you and your friends some dinner." My ears perked at the sound of running. As if summoned, a large group of people had bursted through the doors close to the staircase we were standing on. They slammed the doors shut and leaned against them without looking in the room.
I could not stop the demented giggles that bubbled up my throat if my life depended on it. The disheveled men and women froze from their premature celebration at getting away from the dolls that had been chasing after them. One woman screamed when she caught sight of my pets, but when they saw they weren't coming after them, the humans looked at me in terror. I stroked the hair of the doll I was speaking with earlier with a mad grin on my face.
"See, dolly! I knew dinner would be here soon! Go on now." The male rubbed his head against my hand as the pack pounced on the still frozen people. My dolls managed to grab every single live being with hardly any struggle, but with lots of screaming and begging. I had many sets of pleading eyes on me as the corpses managed to subdue their prey. I sighed as I looked over this scene with a frown. Just as they were about to chow down, I held up a finger.
"Unh, unh, unh! Just a minute!" Many relieved sighs and tears mixed with groans and moans of disappointment. It amazes me that despite the fact the dolls are dead, some still have personalities. I skipped over to the male doll and patted his head one more time to sooth his annoyance at being denied his meal a second time. "Darlings, take your dinner elsewhere. Mommy and Daddy have business to deal with here." I heard a choking sound over my words from the floor below, but I dismissed the sound as I looked over the corpses with an expectant gaze.
I ignored the looks and cries of horror as the cadaver seem to brighten up at my words. He nuzzled my hand one last time and proceeded to drag his prey out the lounge followed by the rest of the pack. I had a fond smile on my face as I watched the dolls for a second. After awhile of dealing with them, the corpses tended to grow on you. I spun on my toes and backflipped to land on the first floor beside the silver haired rogue only to see each man looking at me in shock or horror. I blinked and tilted my head to the side with an expression that clearly said 'what?'.
Adrian was the first to blink out of his stupor. He looked at me in amused confusion as he rose a silver eyebrow at me. "Mommy and Daddy? Is there something you're not telling me, kitten?" There was a devilish smirk on his face as my cheeks flushed in embarrassment. He chuckled at me as I sputtered, not coming up with a response. An arm was snaked around my waist, and he pulled me close to whisper in my ear.
"I wouldn't mind being called daddy, but I would prefer if it was by something other than a doll…" The words purred in my ear made my face burn and my legs nearly buckled out from under me. A dark growl prevented me from saying anything back to the mad man. Sebastian had rage and jealousy burning in his inhuman eyes as he glared at my companion.
"I thought you said you only had limited control over the corpses." Ronald called out to the tall reaper beside me. Adrian chuckled at the boy as he looked over at the still struggling soul harvesters. Both were staring at me with narrowed eyes, as the rogue nodded at the statement. He used the arm around me to pull me in front of him, and rested his scythe over his shoulder.
"Tis truuuuuuuue!~ I only have limited control over my lovely dolls, but my angel has total control over eeeeeeevery single one.~ They listen to whaaaaaaaaatever she says!" He rubbed his cheek against the crown of my head as he cackled at the expressions of the active reapers. The redhead trembled as he rose to a standing position with a glare on his face.
"What is she?" He seethed at the older man behind me before his gaze took on a calculating gleam as it switched to me. A dark chuckle came from above me as the arm holding me tightened making me put my hands on it as a reminder. His long locks fell around me in a cascade of silver starlight as Adrian leaned forward slightly.
"The only thing you need to know about her, reaperling, is that she is MINE!" The giggle was gone from his voice and replaced by a possessive tone. This made the younger death gods tense in an entirely different manner from before. They looked at the aged man with almost a sense of fear at the force of his last words. However, this only made the black haired man snarl in answer to the challenge.
The demonic butler started to throw tables and anything else he could get his hands on at the black clad mortician. He pushed me behind him as the blade came off the rogue's shoulder. Everything that came his way was sliced to pieces by the large scythe, but when the silver haired man was about to make his counter attack, Sebastian had vanished.
My eyes widened and darted around the room trying to find him. All I could see were the other reapers trying to gather their strength to make another attack on the rogue man. I felt a shift of air behind me and I spun on my heel to punch at my attacker. When my fist met empty air, it caused my eyes to widen. I tensed, ready to jump away from the space, but it was already too late.
I caught the scent of burnt flesh just a split second before I was grabbed by a harsh set of hands. My arms were pinned to my sides by an arm around my waist, and the other hand had a painfully tight grip on my neck. Instantly, it was much harder to breath, and I could not stop the panic racing through my blood.
My feet left the floor as I was yanked against a rock solid torso. My muffled yelp caught Adrian's attention and the large weapon was swung in our direction. The demon put some distance between him and the death scythe in the mortician's hands. The hand holding my neck almost made it impossible to breath, and instincts took over as I weakly struggled to get loose. I kicked at the legs behind me as I thrashed.
However, when the grip completely closed my windpipe, I went limp in the man's hold. Satisfied that he got his unspoken point across, Sebastian relaxed his hand, and I greedily gulped air back into my lungs. The butler tightened his bruising hold on my arms and waist as he took another step back.
"I do believe I have the upper hand," The black haired butler spoke with confidence. He shifted me around in his arms so the hand around my throat was holding the majority of my weight. The limited amount of air kept me from attacking the man behind me with my flames as I tried to force my body to relax, but the threat of suffocation was making it very difficult to still my racing heart.
Sebastian chuckled darkly as the manic froze when I let out a small whimper of pain. The demon bowed his head to lick up a tear that had slipped free as my eyes squeezed shut. I cringed away from the sensation, but the hand on my neck tightened again. A wheeze escaped my lips as the air was forced from my lungs.
"Hmmmm. Your suffering is exquisite… I don't think I've ever sampled anything quite like it before. Now, then. Just what are you? No being should be able to control the dead like you do." I jerked my head, and a snarl of annoyance echoed in my head. Glaring at the butler sideways, I managed to curl my lips up in a sneer at his words. The demon gave me that dark smirk of his as he leaned over to whisper in my ear.
"Struggle all you want, little flower, but perhaps now I should let you know. I always get everything I want." As quick as a snake, his lips sealed over mine. I had just enough room to pull away with a look of disgust on my face. The grip was now a crushing pressure on my neck, but that didn't stop me from spitting on the butler's face. I relished the look of shock before it morphed into rage.
Another force was crushing me all over my body. The arms around me were slowly adding to the pain I felt now as they caged me. I used what's strength I had left to push against the power keeping it from shattering my bones, but it was fading fast with the lack of oxygen. The strain I was putting on my muscles was causing me to shake under the glare Sebastian was aiming to me.
My eyes were burning as I heard a deep growl from up ahead. Looking through the tears my eyes involuntary gathered, I saw the silver haired man took a threatening step forward. There was a murderous glint in his eyes, and his power caused his hair and loose clothing to float in an invisible breeze. Small crackles of energy sparked along the blade of his scythe, and his whole frame tensed. Cracks were spreading on the floor around the rogue reaper's black boots as the chartreuse eyes sharpened on the hand holding me up off the ground.
The rage directed at the demon was enormous, and the mortician's weight shifted a bit. The clawed hands holding the death scythe tightened causing the knuckles to whiten to the same colors as the rest of his weapon. The move distracted my captor enough for the force pushing against me to weaken enough to get air back in to prevent me from passing out, and I vaguely felt Sebastian tense as Adrian pushed off from his spot with a flash of the silver blade.
A blur of black and silver filled my vision as I felt the arms release me. With the oppressive hold gone, I started to fall to my feet. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the hilt of the death scythe slamming the demon in the chest. The strike caused him to flip in the air on the other side of the lounge. A dark growl came from the man above me when my legs gave out from under my trembling frame.
With the black robe flung out like wings behind him, and his eyes flashing with cold fury, it was then that the silver haired rogue was the one who resembled an angel.
"That was an cowardly move, master butler." Rage saturated Adrian's tone as an arm encircled my waist gently, keeping me from collapsing on my knees. I nearly gave a sigh of relief, but my throat was so sore. I lifted my hands to feel over the skin, and I flinched when my fingertips grazed over my neck. The motion I made brought the silver haired reaper's attention to me. When he saw whatever damage there was, his eyes darkened even more.
Sebastian took advantage of the my partner's distracted state, and aimed a kick at the rogue's head. The arm around me brought me closer to the mortician as he flipped over the demon. The silver strands formed a curtain around me, hiding me from that purplish gaze. I clutched at the man as he maneuvered around the black haired man.
As we flipped in the air, I watched as the death scythe slice a staircase. I was startled at the surprised shout from above as the reaper righted us in the air. I fisted my hand in the black tunic next to my head while I kept the other hand around my neck, trying to heal the damage faster. I looked over to see Ciel falling among the rubble of the stairs. Adrian took the width of the blade of his scythe and flung the boy across the room.
Sebastian's eyes widened in shock as he saw his master fly past him. With the priority of the child's safety at the forefront of his mind, the butler turned to catch the young Earl. The next thing I knew, I was suspended in the air between the pissed off mortician and his weapon between the black clad arms. In a quick move, the blade of the scythe plunged in the back of the butler and went through his abdomen. Blood spurted in the air from both points of the wound and the man's mouth.
"You clearly don't know when you are dealing with your betters, and I don't appreciate you trying to steal my kitten, beast. I will not have your foulness tainting her in any way." All playfulness was gone out of his voice as he twisted the blade embedded in the other man. The wet sound of flesh tearing made Ciel's eyes widened as he stretched out his hand in the demon's direction. The rogue removed his weapon with that same wet, squishy sound and put an arm back around me.
"She is mine! You have no right to claim her, and I will not tolerate the likes of you or your kind attempting to poach her out from under my nose!" The coldness of his tone made goosebumps prickle all over my skin. Dark blood ran in rivulets down to the point of the scythe. The blade gave off a menacing aura as Adrian looked on at the struggling monster with that deadly look in his eyes. "You would do well to remember that if you survive."
The black butler had his hand outstretched, reaching for the boy just beyond his grasp. The cinematic record rushed out of the wounds on Sebastian's body. The beginning of his relationship with Ciel was played for all to see.
P.S. It has come to my attention that I have been a bit sadistic, so I'm working on something special for all of you who put up with me. Chapter 43 will have a citrus flavor and it will be the longest chapter yet in the story! Just hang with me, guys!