Posted: 3-15-18 At 12:50 AM
(USA CST; GMT: -6:00)
A/N:
All of the author's notes for chapter #13 apply to this chapter, as well.
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Chapter 14: A Contract...
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A short way from the building, Lizzie finally got a hold of her fear of these demons. She shook off Vepar's grasp on her arm, and stopped running. Vepar skidded to a stop not too far from the teen, and blinked back at the other blonde.
"Lady Elizabeth?"
"I'm fighting."
Lizzie said, grabbing a sword from Vepar and turning her back on the demoness, now holding a sword in each hand.
"What?! No. I was told to-!"
"I don't care what that angel, or whatever she was, told you. I am a female knight! I am a daughter of the Midford family! I am the wife of the Queen's watchdog! I will NOT be a damned damsel in distress!"
The girl said with tears thick in her voice, despite herself. Vepar sighed.
"But, Lady Elizabeth-"
She stopped, frowning as she saw 10 large black dogs racing towards them. Looking around, she realized they were not far from the Thames river.
"At least, move closer to the water, my lady!"
She said and unfastened her dress, Lizzie glanced at her, over her shoulder, in time to see Vepar stepping out of the dress that was pooled at her feet. Leaving her only in a shift.
Vepar then raced towards the black water, Lizzie backed up a few steps, glancing back towards the dogs, then she turned and ran after Vepar.
She watched as the blonde demon dove into the water with only the light of the moon shining light over them.
She could see a bit better closer to the water, because it reflected the moonlight so well. Once closer to the river, Lizzie spun around to face the oncoming demons, once more. A sword in each hand.
Camio had taken his humanoid form, choosing to fight that way, rather than as a raven. He was a raven haired young male demon, who was Lucifer's son before the angels fell, and who had fallen with his father and the other angels.
Currently he was standing with his back to Sitri and Sebastian.
Sitri and Camio both held blood covered swords. Sebastian's clawed hands were covered in blood. Many demons were dead at their feet. Furfur, who had taken his humanoid form (it wasn't easy or favorable for a large male deer to be in a fight in such a confined space!) And had vanished down the stairs, came back up with a nasty cut on his face.
"We have a problem..."
"What is it?"
Asked Camio as he shook the blood from his blade.
"Gabriel has been caught by Labolas. He also caught Stolas, and cut off one of his wings. Marchosias is in his human form, trying to keep him from bleeding to death..."
Sitri sighed. Sebastian frowned.
"If Stolas changed his form, he could stop the bleeding..."
"Yeah. But, he had some sort of anti-magic cuff hooked around his neck... So, he can't use his powers."
Sebastian frowned, remembering the chains he had been held in, before that insane reaper freed him. Camio sheathed his sword at his hip.
"I'll come and send him back to the demonic realm."
Furfur led Lucifer's son down the stairs. Sitri started to follow, but stopped when he saw Sebastian wasn't following him.
"Jadon?"
Sebastian bit back the urge to snap at him to not call him Jadon.
"Lady Elizabeth is free, that's all that matters. Why don't we all just leave...?"
Just then a scream pierced the air. Sitri frowned.
"That's why... We can't leave my mother here!"
He said. Sebastian frowned. He forgot that Gabriel had been Sitri's mother before Sitri and the others fell.
"You can't... I can. I owe her nothing, Sitri."
"Yes, you do. She took your Countess's place."
They eyed each other. Another scream sounded, and Sitri tuned away from Sebastian, heading down the stairs.
Sebastian sighed heavily.
Labolas scared him... Though, he hated to admit that. Finally, he headed downstairs as well.
During Ciel's talk with Mey-Rin, the maid had said something that made the young earl turn pale as a ghost.
He looked at her with both eyes wide.
They were still sitting on his bed, the maid had been trying to comfort him from a nightmare.
"You did WHAT?!"
He asked her, she paled at the tone of his voice.
"I... I said that I made a wager with Sebastian. If I win it, your soul will be safe..."
"No. NO. NO. NOOOO! This CAN NOT be happening!"
He said as he moved away from her and ran his hands through his dark hair.
"Young mast-?!"
She started and gasped when he slapped her hand away.
"How dare you?!"
He hissed. She blinked.
"H-huh?"
She asked.
"I NEED Sebastian's help to get revenge! If there is nothing in it for him I won't get his help in doing that!"
"B-but... Young master-!"
He wanted to scream. But all he did was look at her tiredly.
"Leave me."
She didn't argue, she slipped off of his bed and quietly left. When he was alone, he huddled in the middle of his bed and cried. He did not need to lose Sebastian! Not after so long of working towards his goal!
Lizzie watched as another dog fell into the moonlit black water. It, like the other 6 she had sent flying into that water, screamed and was dragged under the water by the water and storm demoness. She knew it would be held there until it had drowned, like the others had. But Lizzie did not have time to wait to make sure it had died, Vepar could defend herself in the water, just fine. Lizzie slashed at another dog as he tried to bite her.
There were 3 of them left on land.
She had many bites on her legs and arms from these demon dogs. She also had a slash on her cheek from claws.
The countess was starting to get tired.
Lizzie defended herself with one sword and sliced the head clean off of one of the dogs, she cut another one in half, and then went after the last, stabbing it in the chest.
It fell to the ground and she sighed. Just then she heard Vepar as she hoisted her mermaid body out of the water. Lizzie smiled, turning to her newest friend.
"Vepar, I killed the last 3, so-"
She broke off, whimpering as blood pooled in her mouth and trickled down her chin. Vepar looked up in time to see Lizzie collapse to her knees and then fell face first onto the dirty ground. A sword was wedged in the girls back.
An 11th dog demon had appeared and, after taking human form, it had stabbed her in the back.
Vepar screamed and storm clouds gathered, suddenly a massive bolt of lightening struck the demon, frying him into no more than a pile of dust within seconds.
She finished drying off her fin, and getting her human legs back in the process. Then she jumped to her feet and went to the girl. Lizzie was in a lot of pain.
Her life was fading as fast as the blood was leaving her body. Vepar realized that she couldn't heal the girl. Her spinal cord had been severed.
"Lizzie- Lizzie, stay with me!"
Vepar said as she removed the sword (wincing as the girl screamed in agony) and then she gingerly turned Lizzie over in her arms. The girl gasped for breath and crying out from the pain with each gasp. She struggled to open her eyes and looked up at the mermaid demon.
"I know it's hard to breathe. I'll let you die if that's what you want-"
At that, Lizzie's green eyes widened. She clutched at Vepar's shift and shook her head.
'No, I don't want to die! I want to be with Ciel! I want to have his children!'
She thought desperately. Vepar smiled sadly, hugging the girl gently. She really was fond of her!
"I can save you. But. You will be damned to become a demon when your time is up... Ciel will be in the same boat, though. Because of your blood... Neither of you can actually have your souls devoured."
'I don't understand what she means...'
Lizzie thought, but she couldn't talk. She tried and only more blood came out, so instead, she grasped the Demoness's arm and dug her nails into her flesh. Vepar winced and saw Lizzie nodding her head.
"You don't care if you become a demon?"
Lizzie choked and gasped as she shook from the pain that she was in. Vepar sighed and lay Lizzie on the ground.
She was hesitating because she wanted someone else's confirmation and approval that she should do this.
She hated being a demon.
Yet this would damn someone else to the same fate! She could see that the girl was dying.
And she couldn't make a proper contract with her since she just wanted to live, and nothing else.
There was also the issue with her being unable to actually talk... Sighing again, the nervous Vepar knelt beside the girl bleeding out on the pavement.
She couldn't let her die here. Frowning slightly, Vepar chose a course of action. She would form a blood bond with her, to keep her alive, and heal her somewhat, then they could figure out a contract.
Just before she was about to start the process of binding herself with Lizzie, there was the sound of a massive explosion in the direction of the warehouse that she and Lizzie had just been in.
Looking up, she saw that section of buildings highlighted by flames.
'Marchosias... Please... Be safe. All of you, be safe!'
She thought worriedly.
Sebastian found himself waking up outside the warehouse, along with Sitri, Camio, Marchosias, the injured Stolas, Furfur and Gabriel, as well as The Undertaker: Mana.
The building they had all just been in was ablaze. The soul reaper was holding the injured archangel in his arms.
Camio was holding Stolas, the little owl. Sitri crawled over to Mana and Gabriel, asking if his mother was OK.
Marchosias and Furfur were both injured. So was Camio. Sebastian felt like his head was foggy. He sat up, looking around.
"It's going to rain soon..."
Said Marchosias as he changed back to the form of a man once again.
"I know."
Camio said softly. A moment later he had finished creating a magic circle on the ground with his own blood. He lay the one winged owl in its center and looked around.
"Anyone want to go back to the demonic realm with him?"
"I'll go..."
Said Furfur, looking tired. Camio nodded and once the stag was standing over the owl in the circle, Camio said the spell to send his friends back. Stolas could be healed there.
Meanwhile, Gabby opened her eyes just as the rain started to fall on the lot of them. Mana and Sitri smiled.
"I destroyed the trumpet..."
She said softly. At that, they all looked at her alarmed.
"Relax. It will materialize again, somewhere, where I can find it in Heaven..."
"How did we even get out of there...?"
Asked Marchosias as he stood up and stretched. Camio blinked and shrugged as he and Sebastian both got to their feet. Sitri stood as well, and Mana did the same, while holding Gabby.
"I'm not sure... One minute we were all in there fighting, the next: we were out here, and the building was on fire."
Sitri frowned, but just then, the rain started coming down harder. Marchosias frowned, looking alarmed.
"This isn't a normal rain. This is Vepar's magic... Something's happened to upset her powers..."
He said in alarm. He shifted back to his wolf form and the next instant, he found Sebastian sitting on his back.
"She had my young mistress with her, I need to go, as well..."
He explained to the wolf. Camio looked at Sitri, the rebel soul reaper and injured angel. Then back to Sebastian.
"The both of you should go. We'll be along after a bit."
The prince said. And Sebastian and Marchosias both nodded. Then the wolf took off in a run with the Butler on his back.
Just then, the 33-year-old clock tower bell: The Big Ben, chimed the hour from the other side of London. It was 5am.
They had missed the time limit for the trumpet to be blown.
It would need to be blown 4 more times in a row, before Labolas's goal could be achieved.
"Do you know where they are?"
Sebastian asked as the wolf ran along the paving cobblestones. His only answer was a growl... So he let it go.
Vepar looked up when she heard a howl. Through the misty fog and the falling rain, came the large wolf with the demon butler on its back. Both were soaked to the bone.
When Marchosias stopped, Sebastian got off, and the wolf took the form of a man.
They blinked at the two women before them.
Vepar was naked.
With her clothes on the bank of the river. Her legs had been replaced with the pale silvery blue scaled fin of a fish.
She also had scales of the same color scattered across her body. Fins were protruding from her forearms, and her ears looked like the fins of a fish.
Her dusty golden hair was loose, covering her bared breasts.
She was seated on a rock, just barely showing above the water. Lizzie was dressed in her undershirt and her pantaloons, her short golden hair was floating around her head in the water.
Her whole body was submerged, only her face was above the icy water. Both demons looking at them scented the blood and saw the pool of it where Lizzie had lay dying a short time before.
"What happened here, Vepar?"
"Jadon... Marchosias... I'm so glad to see that you are both ok-"
"Why is my young mistress in that filthy water, in this freezing cold?!"
Demanded Sebastian, he could see his damn breath! It was a surprise that the river wasn't frozen over completely! He took a step forward, but Marchosias stopped him. Sebastian looked at the other man. Then back to Vepar.
"The water within 20 feet around us, is clean. My body purifies it. So, she is in clean water. Also, she is not cold. The water temperature is body temperature. As for the "why": I am keeping her alive and healing her. She is almost healed..."
"Healing her?! From what?!"
"One of the demons severed her spine..."
Sebastian's red eyes widened.
"How can you heal an injury like that?"
She looked at him.
"I had to form a blood bond with her, and then... When Lady Elizabeth was stable and able to talk... We formed a contract."
Sebastian sighed. Ciel would not be happy that Elizabeth had sold her soul... Neither would Mey-Rin.
But at least the girl was alive. Sebastian and Marchosias helped Vepar get Lizzie out of the water when the she-demon said that the girl was healed completely.
Then Vepar used her powers to redress, once she had her legs back. Sebastian used his own powers to materialize clean, dry, riding clothes on Lizzie.
Then he picked her up. A short time later, Camio and Sitri caught up with them.
When Sebastian asked where the shinigami and the angel were, Sitri said that his mother had left with Mana. Marchosias asked if they knew if Labolas was dead or not.
Camio shook his head and just said that he was fairly sure that the demonic earl had gotten out of the flaming warehouse, probably with some of his legion of followers.
Sebastian wondered if their own safe escape had something to do with Lau. It was the only explanation he could think of, considering that Lau was such an unknown to him.
He knew now, that the Chinese man was not completely human. But he had no idea what he was.
He could not tell if he was angel, demon or something else all together. Finally, Sebastian took Camio, Sitri, Marchosias and Vepar and the still sleeping Lizzie, with him, back to the Phantomhive manor.
When the morning fully came around, Ciel woke up to find Lizzie asleep in the bed beside him. Somewhere along the night he had cried himself into a fitful sleep.
Sebastian seemed to have tucked him into the bed, as well as Lizzie. The teen sat up and looked at his wife.
She was pale, and her long, beautiful, golden hair was now short. Falling to somewhere between her shoulders and her jaw. He reached out and gently touched her cheek, marveling at the fact that she was still warm and alive.
Her green eyes fluttered open, and she blinked up at him. Then her eyes filled with tears as she sniffled, sitting up and hugging him.
"I missed you Ciel!"
"I missed you, as well, Lizzie!"
He said and hugged her back happily.
"What happened to all of your beautiful hair?"
He asked as he broke the embrace to look at her. She smiled sadly, tears trailing down her cheeks in rivers.
"I-its a long story..."
He could see the pain in her eyes, he was about to tell her that he didn't mind a long story, when there was a knock at their door. Looking at the clock on Lizzie's side of the bed, he saw that it was 10am.
"What is it?!"
He called out.
"It is me, my lord. You and your young bride should come to breakfast and the lot if us really do need to talk about a number of issues after that..."
Said Sebastian from the other side of the door. Ciel sighed.
"Lizzie and I will help each other dress, then we shall be down soon after..."
"... Very good then..."
Ciel heard Sebastian walking away, then he looked at Lizzie.
"Let's get dressed, Lizzie."
She hesitated. She was in only her nightgown. Lizzie did not fancy him seeing her body, after everything she went through the day and the night before. But, she nodded and started to get up. He'd see any scars she had acquired, soon enough...
"Before that, Ciel... I wanted you to know what happened to me. I'm not sure what my body looks like... But, I wanted you to know. I... I feel a bit like I was unfaithful to you. Even though it was against my will-"
Ciel felt his heart still from the dread, and his stomach was suddenly in his throat.
"Lizzie, were you-?"
She looked at him, still crying. She just nodded.
"I also had your precious wedding ring taken from me..."
He gently pulled her into his arms, hugging her as she cried into his chest.
"It's OK, Lizzie, I can get you another ring..."
She whimpered and nodded against Ciel's night shirt.
"I'm just glad you're back..."
Lizzie looked up at him.
"I... I had to contract with the demon: lady Vepar..."
Ciel froze.
"Did she force you?"
"No, she and the other demons saved me. I-I w... Would NOT have survived the night, had I not contracted with her... I requested it, of her."
He frowned. He did not like the idea of her giving up her soul. Ciel hugged her tightly and she hugged him back. She could feel him shaking.
"We'll both be OK..."
She whispered to him, softly.
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To Be Continued...
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Disclaimer: don't own anything from the Black Butler series. At all.