In the days following, Alois had returned to school, attending classes regularly again with a slight bounce in his step. It was new, and the other residents of Phantomhive house noticed, predominantly Ciel, who continued to work within close proximity to the other man most of the time. He had contracted Alois' seemingly contagious grin at times, getting swept up in how peaceful the menace seemed to feel.
Yes, the menace would never completely "heal". There were still things that he simply could not do, and things that he was still afraid of. His fear of the old man persisted as well, but despite the fact that the Earl of Trancy was alive, Alois was now armed with power that he could never have even dreamed of possessing for himself while he was human. Alois had full control over his own life. He had the power to shape his destiny all on his own. With the assertion of this power over the Earl, he had solidified this fact. Somehow, it made the menace feel lighter.
His giddiness was apparent as he walked into the bluenette's home office, making his way toward the man behind his desk. "Hello~!" he chimed, pecking the Phantomhive on the cheek before plopping onto one of the god-awful couches in the room. Like always, his grin spread to the other at the contact, forcing him to smile as well.
"So I take it that you had a good day?" he mused, looking up at the blonde, watching him nod.
"Uh-huh." The menace answered. "Classes went smoothly, and oh, did I mention that they moved the old man's body?"
"So they found him, hm?" questioned Ciel. "Do you think it was Cerberus?"
"Well, judging by the fact that security is about the same and that nobody's saying anything, I'd say that's a safe bet."
"Wonderful." Stated the watchdog. "Do you think they liked our gift?"
"Most likely." Alois said, sitting up slightly in order to look at the bluenette. "Remember what he said? Voros is bored, and is in search of someone to play with. They deliberately chose us as formidable opponents, so with this, we simply gave them what they wanted."
"A 'formidable opponent'…" echoed the bluenette, resting his chin in his palm. His eyes closed as he remembered something that happened approximately four years ago. "I can understand that…" he said.
"Being a demon without anyone to really hang out with must've been so boring…" the menace replied. "Even you went as far to try and resurrect an old enemy in order to fight them. That's pretty hardcore…"
"It was maddening." Ciel answered. "Living without purpose is worse than not living at all. I only went a hundred years or so like that. Who knows how old Voros is? Maybe all of this time, they've been searching for conflict in order to settle their unrest."
"Maybe they just need a boyfriend or a girlfriend." Jokingly suggested the blonde. "A date-mate. It seems to have worked for you."
"You're right, it did." His beau chuckled, opening his eyes again. "I like this turn of events much better. If I followed through and turned you into the 'ultimate foe' like I had originally planned, then what happens afterwards? Either I'd be dead, or back where I started. Voros has the same problem, now."
Everything was fine during the first few years of Ciel's newfound "condition". He lived life somewhat normally, aside from the fact that he had to flee the country and hide his true nature. There was a bit of a thrill in that. As time went on, however, the bluenette was supposed to have grown up, and yet he wandered aimlessly, trying to find something to take his mind off of eternity. When war broke out, he thrived, living on the excitement of a renewed sense of danger. When he was lucky, he got to play pranks on enemy soldiers and foil their plots for no other reason than because he could.
It ended, however. A few decades later, it happened again. This time, however, the country that he was staying in fell and became occupied with enemy forces, causing him to return to England once again. Upon arrival, he was caught and had the opportunity to work out in the open with human beings. Naturally, the Phantomhive agreed. He was tired of hiding from everyone, but not done shutting people out.
While working with the H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. organization and Scotland Yard, Ciel was able to absolve most of his boredom. Yet, after decades more had passed, it had become routine. Slowly, he was going mad from being unable to keep interesting people around him, as humans die. Solve murders, watch people age, watch people die; solve murders, watch people age, watch people die- it was the same thing over and over again. Yes, Ciel could understand Voros' motives very well. Despite this, however, it was his duty to put a stop to them.
"You're not going to get bored of me, are you?" asked the menace, arching an eyebrow. He watched as his beau shook his head.
"No." Ciel stated, a small smile forming on his face. "In fact, as time goes on, you only keep getting more interesting."
"Good. I don't know what I'd do if that happened…"
"Smack some sense into me for doubting you, probably."
"Nice."
"It's true. Your power is quite something." The bluenette said. "I'm proud of you. You've come so far."
A blush appeared on the blonde's face at this. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as that particular choice of words made him extremely happy. It was somewhat of a relief. Alois did worry at times that the bluenette would grow tired, especially when he acted out the way he did at the clock tower. Smiling uncontrollably, he giggled.
"Glad you think so!" Hs answered, leaning his arm on the rest of the couch and resting his chin in his palm. "Think Voros will think the same way?"
"Not quite." Ciel replied. "They will most definitely be pleased at your power, but they won't be as nearly sentimental."
"Oh, well. As long as you're impressed, it's good." The menace mused. "So, what do we do about Voros?" He watched as his beau crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes in thought.
"Find out how they're going to strike next." He stated. "So far, they've been launching wide-scale attacks in populated areas and building up their forces. The question is: why? It has to be something big."
"A landmark?" suggested the blonde. "Given how flashy and brazen they are, that could be a good guess."
"That's true… Somewhere specific…" Ciel began. "They do seem to like gimmicks, judging by all of their 'Jack' nonsense."
"Hm… London Bridge?" asked Alois. "I can see them using the song. They'd probably try to bomb it."
"Good guess." The watchdog said, beginning to jot things down. "What about the college, though? What reason do they have to be there?"
"To spy on us?"
"Doubt it. They don't like making unnecessary efforts."
"Naming their flunkies after Jack-related puns was 'nessecary'?"
"It is if you're Voros."
Sitting up, the blonde continued to think for a moment. "I have no idea, then." He stated. "There was probably something that they needed there. We know that Verdigris had access to the dorms, and that Araneus had access to the students as a professor."
"Perhaps they were building their forces…" the bluenette speculated. "But why college students?"
"Most of them are in a vulnerable position." Alois replied. "Most aren't completely sure what they want to do with their lives, but know that they only have a small amount of time to decide. There's pressure from parents, there's pressure from teachers, there's pressure from peers. Some students are time bombs of stress—it wouldn't be hard to recruit them for your nefarious purposes if you somehow provide them with an answer to their problems."
"You could be onto something, there… So… How do we beat someone who has an army of stressed college students, is extremely bored, and likes to blow things up?"
"Find out where they are and give them what they want." The menace answered. "Kick their ass."
"And how do you locate them?"
"Well, where would they store a big group of people? When I was 'Blackjack', they were in the same building as us."
"So we're thinking warehouses, abandoned buildings… Probably not the Glen. That area is still crawling with H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. forces…"
"Considering recent events, they might want to keep a closer eye on the Jacks so that none of them are able to sabotage them from the inside again."
"Warehouses then?" asked the bluenette.
"Most likely." Answered the Macken. "Ones that are currently not in use."
"I'll pass this on to Integra." Ciel said, finishing writing down his beau's speculations so that he would remember them all later. "If you think of anything else, be sure to do the same."
"Roger that~!" spoke the blonde with a playful salute. "Let's give 'em hell~!"
A/N: Ah... I'm not too happy with how this chapter turned out, but I really wanted to update today...
I'll try to update again tomorrow, too...
Nyuuuugh
Questions?
"Hate-senpai, do you use a beta for your your stories or do you do the grammar and everything by yourself?" by Animelover2215
Nope. I don't even know how the whole "beta" thing works, so I do it myself. I don't do a very good job, sometimes. I hardly ever read over the drafts after I finish typing them... Straight to the internet they go~!
"any chance of bringing finny back? Also how old are you gonna have luka get before his first contract? i know he's a little young but for all i know you could keep him young forever." by therewillbebrawl
I dunno. I haven't planned on bringing too many back so far. Also, Luka is about like, nine years old, so I think I'll hold off on having him kill somebody a little longer...
A lot of the rest of the questions are things that have already been answered and I just missed, or things that I WILL answer eventually.
A lot of you also said I focus on Alois too much, haha. I do. He is precious to me. Sweet sunshine child. I want to focus more on Ciel, though, and hope I get more chances to do that in the future.
For some reason, the more suggestions I get to "Add more DanKris", the less I want to do it... I know I need to resolve that subplot, but dang... The reason I say this is because there are times when every other comment is about DanKris, and while I'm excited that you're excited, that's just not where my focus lies at the moment...
I want to kill things and blow them up.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
