Author's Note: Going through this chapter, I remembered that I had an alternate ending for this fic. I will get that written up and put with the ending when we get there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. I only claim Serena, as well as the demons and descendants that I introduce.

Chapter Thirty Three

Serena stood with a scream and threw her arms around the stunned reaper.

"I didn't think that you would be so happy to see me." Ronald pulled away as she laughed.

"Are you kidding? You're being here means that I'm not crazy."

"So, no hard feelings about the...uh...," He tapped a finger against his chest.

"It's not like you were the one who shot me. And there was really nothing that you could have done, was there?"

He smiled sadly and shook his head.

"There you go."

Ronald waved to the other chair. "Do you mind?"

"No! Please, sit."

She took her own seat, a goofy smile still on her face. As she giggled to herself a little, the reaper frowned.

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing. It's just that I ran into you and I found the townhouse this morning. Everything is kind of working out. And I thought that my plan was stupid."

He looked down to the map sticking out of her book. Slowly pulling the folded paper out, he looked at her markings.

"I figured that I could find the manor by backtracking from the townhouse."

Ronald flipped the map open and picked up her pen from the table. She watched as he drew a line from their current location, down several streets and turns, finally ending with a circle on the very edge of the city.

"London has damn near swallowed it. But the family that has it now, won't sell so much as an acre. The crown has supported their position, saying that their land are taken care of and the family can still afford the upkeep, there is no reason to push them to sell what they don't need to."

"The family that has it now?"

"Surely you know that they are not Phantomhive anymore?"

"Of course. If there really was a Phantomhive family in England, they would be bombarded by rabid fangirls and conspiracy theorists by the dozens."

"By the hundreds." He laughed and handed her the pen back. "I still think that we should have been compensated for the use of our names and likenesses, but what are you going to do? It's not like we can take it to court."

"Ronald...who made Kuroshitsuji?"

"Yana Toboso."

"You know what I mean."

"I think you know that if you just think about it."

"So, he's in Japan." Serena threw her pen down. "I just left there!"

"I'm a reaper, Serena. I don't follow the movements of demons. I don't know where he is now. All I know is that I have not run into him since the end of his contract."

Something about the tone of his voice made Serena nervous. "What happened, Ronald?"

He looked around, obviously uncomfortable. "Things got a little bad after you...left."

She waited but he didn't seem inclined to say anymore. Suddenly a waiter hurried up to their table and set a menu in front of the two of them.

"I apologize for your wait. Can I get you anything?"

The red head looked up with a smile. "I'll just have a coke."

"Tea, whatever Gerard's special is today."

The waiter promised their drinks in a flash before rushing off and Serena turned back to the reaper. "You come here a lot?"

"I like this place. As the city and population have grown, the reapers have divided it into sections. You happen to be in mine."

"Well, excuse me." They both laughed. "Where is your little book?"

"Please. It's the 21st century, Serena." Ronald pulled an iPhone from his pocket.

"Reaper's use iPhones now?"

"Now, we get a daily email." He slid it back into the breast pocket of his coat.

"That's just weird." She looked at his phone longingly. "And I miss mine."

"Miss yours?"

"Yeah, when I started to come up with some kind of plan, I looked in my purse and there was no phone. Everything else that I had taken to the theater that night was right where I left it. Everything but my phone."

"Something must have happened to it." He smirked and she had a feeling that he knew something that she didn't.

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Ronald smiled, trying to look dumb.

"What happened? To Ciel, Sebastian, all of them? What happened to my phone?"

"Why don't you look where you left it?" He looked down as the waiter set their drinks down. "As for everyone else, I told you things got bad after you. That's...all I can tell you."

The waiter came back with their drinks and took their orders for lunch.

"Why do I keep hitting a brick wall?"

"Because you keep asking the wrong people."

"Then who's the right person?"

The reaper grinned. "Hear any good jokes lately?"

*******************A Demon's Mate*****************

Ciel looked up as he was about to open Tanaka's journal again when he heard carriage wheels coming up the drive. He slammed the book against the desktop before spinning around to find out who was here now. Despite what he had told the priest, the man's words were echoing through his mind and making him question his decision. It only added to his irritation. The setting sun showed the Midford carriage stopping in front of the front stairs.

Out the window, he watched Snake handing his aunt and fiancé out of their carriage. The Earl admitted that death did not seem that bad at this moment. Both women were still dressed in mourning black as they made their way into the manor. For a moment, he wondered about the chances of staying in his office and leaving them to their own devices.

"Ciel!"

He jerked at Lizzy's yell, abandoning his plan. There was no way that he would get out of entertaining them for a while.

The door to his office door burst open and Lizzy was right behind, a blur of black fabric and golden hair. She was in tears as she threw herself at her fiancé.

"Oh, Ciel! I can't believe that Sebastian would leave you too." She cried while pulling away. "It's just not right."

"Come downstairs. The estate office is no place to hold a conversation." Lady Frances huffed and disappeared from the doorway. Taking a last look at the journal, the Earl pushed himself from his seat with a scowl. Lizzy attached herself to his side as he came around the large desk. She offered him a watery smile and Ciel was reminded of his father's words to Tanaka about his mother.

'Could she chase the shadows from this place? Or would the shadows swallow her in the end as well?'

In the salon, Frances had settled herself on the sofa and presided over the tea tray brought by Tanaka. She waited until they had all chosen their seats before handing out the cups.

"Tanaka has told me that Sebastian has left the manor." She took a sip of the tea and admitted that it wasn't as good as Sebastian's.

"That is correct."

"I have already called an agency and they will be sending over candidates for you to consider in the morning."

"I can chose my own staff."

"Were you not the one that chose that butler in the first place?"

The glaring match was interrupted by Lizzy. "Mother, can't you just let this go?"

Frances seemed amazed that her daughter would say something against her and Ciel mirrored her disbelief.

"No, I cannot. Running a household is the job of a wife or female relative. I'm certain that you haven't even considered Sebastian's replacement, have you?" She waited for his reluctant nod. "That is what I thought. Most lords just think that the house runs itself. While I am willing to admit that Sebastian knew what he was doing, he was wrong in letting you think that. The servants need guidance, especially yours, and Tanaka cannot simply take over again. Tanaka was an excellent butler, but the fact of the matter is that he is retired for a reason. The night that my brother and sister-in-law died, Tanaka suffered tremendous injury himself. He may look fine, but Angelina told us all that he does not have the stamina that he used to. You cannot expect him to just move back into his former position."

Ciel looked away as she hit on exactly what he had been expecting.

"The title of House Steward was just a vanity title that I know you gave him to keep Tanaka around. There really isn't any responsibility attached to it. It is the position that he requires now. You need a new butler, as soon as possible. I will take over running the household until you choose one."

"Aunt..."

"No."

The Earl finally snapped and threw down the delicate cup and saucer, enjoying the sound of it's shattering ringing through the room.

"Enough! I've had enough of you thinking that you can just walk in here anytime that you like and take over. I'm sick of you turning my household upside down every time you condescend to come here. I don't need you to run my life. You're not my mother!"

"Well someone has to be," She yelled back.

Ciel stopped and Lizzy could only watch as her mother seemed to deflate a little.

"We are your family, Ciel. After your parents died, you seemed to think that you didn't have any family left, but you did. I tried to step in, but you were closer to Angelina and accepted her more than you would me. I was always the fencing instructor that you didn't like because I pushed you harder than anyone else would. I stepped back and let her be your family because she was the only one that you were comfortable around. But, she would just let you do whatever you liked. Someone had to be the one to push you, as well as keep you in line, and I was regulated to that role. The teacher is all that you would ever see me as or let me be." Frances tried to pull herself back together and took a moment to smooth non-existent wrinkles in her gown. The teenagers were surprised to see a single tear slip down the older woman's cheek before it was brushed away.

Ciel sunk slowly back into his chair. He didn't know what to say. She was right. He was closer to Madame Red because she always spent more time at the manor when he was child than Frances did. She was Vincent's older sister and already had her own family to worry about. But Madame Red had only married less than a year before his parents' deaths and had spent a great deal of time visiting her sister and nephew before her marriage. He had never been close to Frances, always being a little frightened of her before his parents' deaths and irritation was added afterward.

The Earl remembered that after Madame Red's death, his aunt's visits had increased, but he was nothing more than irritated by the interruption and scared that she would find something in his home to lecture him about. But, during every visit, she would smile at him or try to hug him... after the reprimand.

****************A Demon's Mate******************

"How come no one has found this?" Serena stared up at the same sign proclaiming the Undertaker's funeral parlor that was on the same street with the same coffins sitting outside.

Ronald's laughed turned into a barely disguised cough. "Well, people who have lived in this neighborhood forever think that the mangaka ripped the character off him and people who don't know him, just think that he's an awesome cosplayer."

"Does he still have business?"

"Oh yeah. People love his hand made coffins."

"This is just too weird."

"Well, shall we?" He opened the door and waited for her to step inside.

The interior was much the same as the exterior. Coffins were still line up against the walls. Shelves still held little urns. The only difference was none of the coffins were on the floor with an occupant.

A giggle came out of the back room behind the counter. "I'll be right with you. Please, feel free to explore my hand-made coffins."

"I've already been in one, thank you."

A silver head, topped with a black, flowing hat, popped out of the door to the back room.

"And it was one of my best work." Undertaker giggled into his same, long robes as he stepped toward the red head. "I was wondering when you would bother to come see me again."

Serena flung her arms around him. "If I had known you were here, I would have come here first."

"Liar." He flicked her nose. "You've been looking for something else. Someone else."

"Do you know where Sebastian is?"

"I guess I could just answer that." He put a finger to his lips. "I haven't seen Mr. Butler in quite a while. I'd say it's been about two decades so my information is not very relevant. I can't really charge for information that is out-dated."

"Please, I'll take it."

"The last I saw of him, the demon you call Sebastian was finishing a contract and headed to America."

Serena sighed and hung her head. "So he's not here."

"Maybe, maybe not." He giggled. "I only said that I hadn't seen him."

The red head looked to Ronald but found that the reaper wasn't paying attention to them as he was on the phone. Undertaker looked at the other man as well and laughed again.

"So, what are your plans now?"

"I'm trying to find the manor."

Undertaker took on an uncharacteristic seriousness. "You know that they are not all there waiting for you. The Earl's household died long ago."

"I figured that. But, it's the only direction that I have."

"Well, I guess I can tell you one thing."

Serena's attention was instantly captured and she grabbed his hand while leaning in close. Undertaker put a finger to his lips that held a smirk.

"Mr. Butler broke his contract with the little Earl."

"What?!"

********************A Demon's Mate*******************

In an old mansion, on the outskirts of London, a blonde woman looked up from the dark-haired boy playing with a toy soldier on the fine carpet beside her. A strange breeze was coming through the open window and she felt a shiver go up her spine. Turning back to her son, the woman saw him listening to the wind as well.

'He feels it too.'

"Alex." The boy looked up at his mother with a smile. "Do you hear him too?"

The child nodded, still smiling. "He tells me stories sometimes."

A smooth voice came through the window, carried on the breeze.

"The time has come. She's almost here."

She nodded and stood as the family's butler came into the room.

"My lady, Mr. Michaels and Mr. Phillips are here to see you."

*******************A Demon's Mate*********************

"Sebastian left Ciel?" Serena let go of Undertaker and backed away. "But, he promised me that he would stay with him."

"He broke their contract. I never said that he left."

Suddenly, the door to the shop burst open and the girl's vision was engulfed in red. Strong arms crushed her body as she was lifted from the floor and spun around the room. Voices could be heard around them, one of them yelling, but the red head couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing in her head.

"Sutcliff, enough!"

She was pulled away from the red reaper and crashed into Undertaker. The silver-haired man helped to steady her on her feet while he cackled. She looked over and saw William shaking Grell from his grip on the man's still-long hair, now tied back at his neck. Instead of the red wool coat, he had always wore, Grell now favored a red dress shirt over black pants with a red and black checkerboard tie. He still wore the red, heeled boots that she was familiar with. Serena laughed as she looked at him.

'He's the only person in the world that could actually pull off that outfit and make it look good.'

In comparison, William still wore the same suit he always did. The manager appeared not to have noticed the passing century but could easily fit in with the businessmen that filled all large cities.

'A good suit never goes out of style, I suppose.'

"You two are never going to change, are you?" Serena walked over and pulled both of them into a hug. Her arms pulled William and Grell together, much to the manager's dismay and Grell's delight.

"It is good to see you again, Miss Walton." William pulled away and straightened his tie. "What brings you to London?"

Everyone in the shop glared at him.

"I missed you guys."

Grell snorted. "Missed us? It's only been a few days for you, sweetheart. You've kept us waiting over a century. Sebastian was not a happy demon, let me tell you."

'Grell was obsessed with Sebastian. If anyone would know where he is, it'll be him.'

"Do you know where he is?" She couldn't keep the excitement from her voice.

"Last I had heard, Bassie had taken a new contract in America."

"That damn monk!" Serena stomped her foot.

"What monk?"

"A monk in Tokyo. He looked at my palm and said something about darkness walking the earth and that I had to go back to the beginning to find the ending." She sighed. "I thought that meant going back to the manor. That was the beginning."

Spears kept his voice soft, not wanting to upset her. "The ending he could be speaking of might be the others you left behind. You want to know the 'end' of their story, don't you?"

The girl thought for a moment. "I do. I want to know what happened to all of them and no one will tell me."

"It's not our story to tell."

Undertaker interrupted by sliding an arm over Serena's shoulders. "You know, Mr. Knox here was not the escort I expected you to show up with."

The ploy worked and her depression turned curious. "What do you mean?"

"She was alone when I found her." Ronald came over to stand next to his boss.

"Still so careless with his mate." William adjusted his glasses.

"What are you all talking about?" Serena looked between the three of them.

"There is a rumor around London about the red haired girl from the past was seen walking around with two men."

"Oh, those two. I kind of gave them the slip this morning." The ancient reaper started to giggle and something about it put her on edge. "There's just something not right about them."

Undertaker's head fell back as his loud laughter filled the shop. Urns fell off the shaking shelves and one of the coffin's lids crashed to the floor. Serena had grabbed onto William as he was the only one not alarmed by the occurrence and the other reapers followed her example. He rolled his eyes when Ronald and Grell grabbed onto his legs.

"That's hilarious." Undertaker cackled as he came down from his laughter high.

William sighed and pushed them all away from him. He smoothed his suit down and readjusted his glasses while the red heads still held each other.

"You alone have nothing to fear from those two, I assure you."

"Okay. Well, that makes me feel kinda better. How do you know them?"

"Never mind that." He waved her off. "Ronald showed you how to get to the manor, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then you should be on your way."

"Why are you trying to get rid of her?!" Grell grabbed onto Serena, crushing the other red head to him.

"I'm not," He giggled.

She pushed away from the red reaper and smiled sadly. "But, he knows that is where I want to go and that it's been killing me since Ronald pointed it out on the map."

"That's right," The man sing-songed.

He crooked a finger at Serena. The girl raised an eyebrow, obviously irritated, but came closer anyway. The reaper giggled, getting into her personal space...and held up a set of keys. She looked at them as he jingled the keys above her.

"You have a car?"

"Of course. I still have to get around and a horse is rather conspicuous these days."

She held out her hand and he dropped the keys into it. "It's not a hearse, is it?"

He didn't answer, just giggled.

"Well, you should never look a gift horse in the mouth." Serena smiled and closed her hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Just remember to stay on the right side of the road."

"Which would be the left."

"That's right!"

"Okay, now I just have to mark off where we are and connect it to where I'm going." The red head pulled out her map again.

Undertaker cackled. "Or, you could just use the GPS."

"You have a GPS, in your car?"

"Of course."

"Am I the only one who see something wrong with all this?"

"Nothing stays the same." William spoke sagely and Serena felt a little sad.

"Yeah, I know."

*******************A Demon's Mate*******************

The house was quiet that night after Lizzy and Frances had gone to bed. Ciel sat in his office looking at the book again. The priest's words echoed through his head again and the Earl glared at the simple journal that seemed to mock him. The resolve that he had always been so sure of was crumbling.

He admitted that there was a part of him that screamed to burn the book and the secrets that it contained. It would make everyone happier if he did. Lizzy could have the family that she wanted in a few years, Frances could have her nephew back. He could hire properly trained servants and the manor could become a home again instead of a hiding place or the fortress that he had made it into. The Funtom Company could become his primary focus.

But, his work for the queen would still be there. Could he resolve the cases he was always given without Sebastian? Tanaka had written about some of the cases that his father had solved in the journal. They were all fairly mundane compared to his own.

Then there was the small, private army that he had made in his current servants. He had hired them for a reason. One that he didn't think would just go away. Proper servants wouldn't be able to handle that. The household that had been wiped out that night had proven that.

His head fell back against the chair and his mind drifted in the silence.

Ciel found himself in the gardens. Instead of snow there was green everywhere and the scent of spring flowers. A laugh drew his attention to the hedge maze at the center of the garden. As he entered the maze, the laughing grew louder, pulling him further in. The voice was familiar, so familiar. Through the twists and turns he followed the sound until he reached the heart and the small stone table that was always there.

Three people sat at the table that had been set for four and looked up when he arrived. Vincent and Rachel smiled at their son and each held out a hand to him. His feet moved forward, coming around the table until he could see the face of the third. Sunlight glinted off of red hair as Serena's face mirrored his parents' welcoming smiles.

"Let it go, Ciel. Join us here." She waved to the empty seat.

When he looked at it, the scene shifted to the manor in flames. He ran down the hallway the same as he had done as a child. He tripped again, the same as always, the beam falling just passed his mother's body where he would have been if he had not pitched forward. However, when he looked back this time, it wasn't his mother's body that he had found first, but Serena's. There was another on the other side of her. It took him a moment to realize the body was his own.

Ciel backed up in horror. Never had he seen himself in the nightmare. Was that how he should have died that night? But, he wasn't crushed under the beam. Tripping over his mother's body had saved him from the burning wood. His foot touched something and Ciel looked down to see the body of his mother and his father's just beyond her.

The garden was back, his hand resting on the chair. He watched as his hand started to pull the chair out.

"That's right, Ciel." Rachel smiled at her son and poured tea into the fourth cup. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"Yes, it does!" Ciel shoot up in the chair and looked around his office. His breathing was ragged as he searched the darkened room for a sign of anyone in the room. Calming, he realized that he was alone, the rest of the house was still sleeping.

His gaze rested on the book still sitting on the ottoman in front of him. Ciel reached forward and picked up the book, opening it back to the passage that he had stopped at that morning.

"It does matter."

******************A Demon's Mate*****************

Serena stared at the black Mini Cooper parked in the alley next to Undertaker's parlor. It's lights had blinked at her when she hit the button on the key fob Undertaker had given her. Shaking her head, she opened the door and slid inside. The leather seats were black, of course, and soft as butter. The dials on the dash were all chrome and a little screen was built into it. When she put the key in the ignition, all the little buttons lit up as well as the screen.

"Welcome Undertaker."

Serena looked around the interior at the voice that came out of the speakers. Touching the screen, she was able to find the GPS in the midst of several icons for music. The girl checked the address she had been given before inputting it in the system. The same voice laughed from the speakers and told her to turn left.

"Okay then."

Pulling out onto the street, she didn't see the reapers coming out of the shop and waving behind her.

"You could have just told her that those two were demons sent to guard her." William readjusted his glasses. "You could have also told her that he was still hanging around."

"Where would the fun be in that?" Undertaker giggled. "Besides, we're about to have company."

He turned and the others could see Lucien and Edwin coming up the street.

It took a lot longer than she remembered to get out of the city. Traffic was much heavier and people didn't get out of the way like they used to when a nobleman's carriage came down the lane. Serena found it was fairly easy to stay in the proper lane when she was surrounded by other cars. Once she left the busy city streets, the girl found that it required a little more concentration.

Still, her fingers drifted to the screen and its promise of music as she flew down the English countryside. Britney Spears filled the small interior and she had to pull over from laughing so hard.

'Not what I would've guessed but, I'd pay good money to see him singing along with that going down the road.' Her fingers shut it off with a wince. 'I don't need music that bad.'

Pulling back out was easy as the traffic had almost completely dried up. She sighed and smiled as she looked around. The streets of the city cut off abruptly and changed to familiar fields and pastures. Horses still grazed near the road as it narrowed and men were still working the fields. She didn't miss that they all turned to look at her as she passed. A large pillar made her breath catch as she remembered seeing several times from the interior of a carriage.

Serena's hands clutched the steering wheel hard enough to turn her knuckles white. A brick fence with rod iron spikes started just after the pillar. Continuing down the lane, she found the break in the brick that held the gate and driveway. Parking in front of the large barrier, she got out in a daze.

Trees that had already been big were now larger and more full. They completely blocked any view of the mansion from the road. She could see the electrical lights that had replaced the torches that once lined the driveway and the mature rose bushes that now broke them up every five lights.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

The guard didn't surprise her this time and Serena smiled easily. She had thought about what she was going to say the entire drive and never could come up with anything that sounded good.

"I know that this is going to sound a little crazy, but I'd like to visit the family cemetery."

The guard blinked at her, obviously surprised by the request. He looked over and she noticed another man for the first time. Both looked at her strangely and she figured it was because of her request.

"One moment." The man disappeared into one of the guard shacks that stood on either side of the gate. The other guard watched her carefully, but Serena's attention was back on the great house she knew was hidden on the other side of the trees. His partner came back, still unsure. "They'll see you at the house."

She smiled again and got back into the car. The gates opened slowly and her heart jumped into her throat. Serena drove through without looking back. She never saw the paper, containing her own likeness that the guard held as he and his partner watched her car go down the driveway.