What was that? This was troubling. The bluenette didn't know what was happening anymore. Why on earth did Alois say the things he did? What did Elizabeth have to do with all of this, and who was "the monster"?
Ciel couldn't figure it out, even as he returned home with the angel accompanying him. The taste of the menace still lingered on his tongue as his contract tingled from the menace's gentle kiss. The action didn't fit the words, even if it was a mere distraction in order to send Ciel the message that now rested on the desk in front of him.
Yes, the Macken had planted a few choice words in the Phantomhive's back pocket during their contact. They were troubling. Ciel's head rested in his hands as he contemplated what to do with them. It wasn't going to work.
"Dear Pup," the letter began.
"As you can see, that little bargain of ours was a trap. With all of those nasty H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. soldiers interfering, however, I'm afraid that we had no choice. It's very sad, but we're afraid that you've left us with no choice. If you refuse to cooperate, we will have to turn the streets of the special zone into a war-zone. Girasol nor Hellsing will be safe anymore. We'll capture them all and use them against you. We'll even use your little friend, whom we've requested to write this all down for us. To avoid this, all you have to do is come visit us in three days' time. Although we can't guarantee your safe return, the game will be over and we'll have no reason to play anymore. Meet us at the recently abandoned Coronet Cinema. It's your decision, Phantomhive. We are most eager to see what you do.
Hugs and kisses,
Cerberus"
Ciel didn't know what to make of that. They wanted him. That's all this has been about for some reason. They kept calling for him consistently throughout the endeavor, and the Phantomhive had no idea why. Now, they had him. They were going to launch a wide-scale attack on H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. and Girasol forces if he didn't go to them. Moreover, they had Alois. This could be his big chance to save him.
He hadn't told H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. about the message yet. He didn't want them to interfere too soon. The only ones who knew of this was himself, his butler, and his cousin, Elizabeth, who the blonde had mentioned before. She sat in the man's office with him, trying to think of a plan.
Somehow, it felt as though the weight was on her shoulders to do so, given the bluenette's current state. He was obviously shaken. She could see it on his face and in his posture. His brain was broken and he couldn't think anymore.
"Let me see the letter again." Elizabeth finally said, standing up from her seat on the sofa to walk over to the desk. Sluggishly, the man handed her the papers; the letter itself along with the numbers written down on the other page.
"Have you any ideas for what the numbers are yet?" she asked. Ciel shook his head without getting up.
"It's probably a cipher." He mumbled into the desk. "I don't know how to solve it, however. There's three numbers in parenthesis divided by a semicolon. They most likely correspond to page numbers of a book."
"What book?" the woman asked.
"It doesn't matter." The man stated. "It's probably a distraction so I'll have no way to think of a plan before the deadline."
"How can you be sure?"
"It makes just about as much sense as anything."
Paff! The Phantomhive was surprised when the angel gently smacked him upside the head. Bluenette locks stood up out of place, only being made worse as the lad rubbed the spot while he sat up to face his attacker. Elizabeth looked at him with a serious expression; angry, scolding, yet somehow sad all at once.
"So that's it?" she asked, much to the man's confusion. "You're just going to ignore some information that could possibly bring Alois back safe and sound? You're just going to give up? Since when have you ever been the sort for that? You should be ashamed."
The weightlessness in Ciel's chest was disturbed like ripples flowing through previously still water. It hurt. Of course Ciel didn't want to give up. He wanted Alois back. He knew the woman was right, but he didn't know where to start. Alois was gone, for now, and so he had also lost his crutch.
Perhaps he wasn't alone in this pursuit. How on earth did Alois carry himself while he was charged with the rescue of the Phantomhive mere months ago? He muscled through it with shear willpower, refusing to break for either his enemy or doubt. That was one of the blonde's greatest strengths, after all. He is the boy that cannot be broken, so what is Ciel? Surely the noble watchdog of her majesty could match him.
That fire that burned so intensely, carrying the bluenette forward even in the face of uncertainty- Where was it now? Surely it hadn't been extinguished after a hundred years. It had only been softened. Months ago, it burned so brightly as he drove head-first into the jaws of a colossal monster for the sake of his love. Where was it now? Has his love for the menace waned over the course of a few months?
No. It hadn't. It was that same adoration which froze him in his tracks, now. One false step, and Alois could be done for. That was the game, and it was Ciel's turn to play it. He couldn't give up on searching for ways to cheat. The rules were stacked against him, but he couldn't run away.
"No." the Phantomhive finally said. "I'm not done yet." With that, he stood up, placing one hand on the table while holding the other one out. "Let me see them."
With a smile, the Hellsing woman obliged, handing the two sheets of paper to the bluenette as he seemed to have summoned a spark of motivation. Setting them both down flat on the table's surface, both cousins stared down at them, trying to decode the fine print.
"We're looking for anything that seems out of place." He said. "There has to be a clue as to what the numbers are."
"The only thing I can think of is this." Elizabeth replied, placing her finger on the page next to a bolded letter. "It looks like he just made a mistake though. Sorry." Ciel's eyes scanned the letter, before his eyes wandered to the one's like it.
"No…" he mumbled aloud. "It isn't. It's not bolded to block out something underneath. You would see traces of the mistake peeking out behind it. Moreover, the quantity doesn't add up. After making a mistake while writing on an important document, aren't you more careful not to repeat it?"
"Yes… And, seeing as though Jim is supposed to be under the absolute control of Cerberus, wouldn't he automatically write what is said the first time?" questioned the angel, looking up at the bluenette. To her surprise, the man had his fingers to his lips while staring down at the page with a furrowed brow. When he finally looked up again, he took a few steps back to dig through the drawers of his desk.
"Ciel?"
"I need a piece of paper…" the man murmured, finally locating what he was looking for and placing the black sheet on top of his workspace. Quickly, he shuffled around for a pen and touched its tip to the page. "What's the first letter?"
"S." And so the Phantomhive wrote it down, as the woman spoke to him. "O; L; V; E; T; H; E; C; I; P; H; E; R."
"'Solve the cipher'." He read aloud once he was finished, his face expressing just how baffled he was by the message.
"Maybe it means that we're supposed to decode the other page before paying attention to this one?" suggested Elizabeth, watching as her relative grumbled.
"We don't know what the key is, though…" he grimaced, staring down at the long list of numbers while scratching his head. How on earth was he supposed to crack a code he knew nothing of?
"There's three numbers in each of the parenthesis." The angel pointed out. "Perhaps they point to a word in a book? Page number; line; and finally word… Is there a particular book that Alois likes?"
"No…" Ciel answered. "He hates reading."
"He must have left a clue somehow…" trailed off Elizabeth, rubbing her chin as she thought. "Did he say anything to you?"
"Yes… I'm not sure what it has to do with it, however…"
"What was it?"
"'Elizabeth mustn't find out about "the monster".'" Ciel echoed. "'Who knows how your innocent fiancée would react if she found out the truth, Doctor?'"
"'Doctor'?" questioned the Hellsing.
"I have a doctorate in criminal justice." Clarified the watchdog.
"Oh. I didn't know. You've always been called 'Sir' since I've been here."
"I'm not called by it often."
"Then why did Jim call you that?"
Ciel's eye widened at the questioned. His face froze as it was as he began to think. The gears began turning in his head, trying to think of a possible reason. Alois never called him by any sort of title. When he did, it was either "Sir" or "Detective", but never "Doctor". Moreover, Cerberus was mostly unaware of his formal list of titles. That was Alois telling him something, but what? Ciel's eyes darted around the room, as if he were blatantly looking for some sort of sign. It was then, that his gaze landed on the bookshelf.
"A book…" he trailed off. "If it's not 'Doctor Phantomhive', then in that case… Doctor who?"
Immediately, he walked over to the shelf, his eye scanning the contents at a rapid pace. "It must be a book character… A doctor, who is marrying Elizabeth? One who can't let his fiancée know about a monster…" He was talking more to himself than he was to his cousin at this point. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he couldn't see the smile on her face at his actions. This was Ciel while working? She had never seen it properly before. The man was buzzing with excitement as he recalled one final piece.
"'I'll be with you on your wedding night!'" he said aloud, much to the woman's confusion. She had heard the menace say that as he scurried off, but it was odd to hear the watchdog repeat it.
"It's a quote." Ciel clarified, looking over his shoulder at the Angel as he explained. "It's from a book. In it, a monster declares revenge on his creator, and threatens to kill his fiancée on their wedding night. Her name was Elizabeth, and the doctor's name was…" he trailed off, plucking a book from its place and holding it to view.
"'Frankenstein'." The demon concluded with a haughty smirk on his face. Elizabeth tried not to giggle at just how pleased he was with himself at the discovery.
"Well, then, get to work!" she said, gesturing to the desk. "We don't have that much time left!"
She was almost astonished by how he actually obeyed without putting on airs, taking a seat with his book before quickly flipping through the pages to find the first word. He wrote it down and then went back again, over and over down the long list of numbers. Elizabeth waited patiently for him for finish, occupying herself with looking around the room. She never got a proper look of its modern state, yet it was still familiar to her. It was obviously the same room but with different décor. Her eyes wandered back to the shelves where the bluenette had been rummaging, curious as to what books sat on it before her sights set on an object sitting on it. It was a stuffed lion. She assumed that it was FUNTOM related, but wasn't sure why it sat where it did.
This activity was starting to get boring, however. Meanwhile, her cousin was working away at the cipher, knocking off word after word. As time went by, the message became more and more readable and a massive grin formed on the bluenette's face; growing wider and wider as he continued to read.
Finally, the message was clear. Quickly, Ciel read over it; then he read it again—and again, and again… His grin never wavered, and a chuckle began to bubble up from his throat, eventually turning into full-on laugher. His cousin jumped at the sound, turning her head to face him as her clutched at his sides. It lasted for quite some time, and the woman simply let him laugh, as it was rare for her to see him laugh so genuinely. When it finally began to die down, the bluenette spoke again.
"That's so brilliant…" he said, chuckling to himself while setting the paper down. He leaned back in his chair with a happy smile, running a hand through his hair. "I love this man…"
