While Grace's condition was stabilizing both physically and mentally, it caused quite the mess. The fact that children were involved in all of this was the primary reason. They would never be able to go back to the world of humans after all of this. Everywhere they went, they would know the true nature of this world that they live in. That was a heavy burden for a child. Setting them up in foster homes wouldn't help. They needed to be treated by professionals.
The Convention of Twelve debated the circumstance of the Ethans family, and decided that it was best to keep the children with their mother upon their rescue, as lycanthropy is not dangerous unless someone abuses the power that comes with it. Grace would not be able to live normally, however, and she would not be able to work at H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. because of her children. Thus, it was decided that they would reach out to their supernatural neighbours, the town of Gehenna. It was then that the representatives of the township were called in and the discussion of asylum for the Ethans family went underway.
Gehenna had no problem with accepting Grace, who by this point was a confirmed werewolf. Even so, they did have major concerns for her children, who, as far as anyone is aware, are human. This fact may no longer be true given their situation, but they still had to factor in the possibility. If the children had been changed, Gehenna would accept them without question, but the possibility of humans living there was unknown. This matter required further consideration.
Meanwhile, the demonic duo began tracking Mister Harris Hartley, Grace's ex-husband. They obviously didn't find him in his home, but they did find further evidence to link him with the attack. Hair in the bottom of his shower was confirmed to be that of a werewolf. That was enough, but the fact that he had seemingly tore the house apart while fleeing the scene also was a big indicator that he was running away from something. The small amount of children's clothes left behind was a big indicator that he was not alone.
The duo was furious. Integra was furious. And even H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G.' own resident lycanthrope was absolutely furious. Amelie, unlike this man—this horrible, horrible man—did not have a choice in the matter. She had this fate of becoming a beast forced on her while trying to flee a desperate situation. It was painful. It was agonizing. It was unwanted, and lonely. Why should someone else be able to choice this sickness? It wasn't fair.
Despite this, the woman agreed to aid the victim of this latest attack, swallowing her own achiness and pushing forward. She resonated with Grace's situation, but it wasn't required of her to share. More than that, she didn't want to. Amelie only did what was asked of her, and that was to prepare Grace for her first moon and give advice on how to cope.
Mrs. Garou didn't want to become a teacher. That wasn't her department, nor did she want to revisit this again. With the potential for more people like her to follow Grace, however, it looked as though she had to. That is when another idea was proposed by them demon known in Gehenna as "Mister Lion". It was more of an off-handed comment that took off in conversation.
"It's not like there's an instruction booklet or a pamphlet you can pick up at the local clinic, now, is there?"
To this, a follow-up question was asked. "Why not?" They had the resources. They had the data. Realistically, it was feasible, and was actually a more practical idea than some seminar. Books could be printed and distributed in Gehenna, placed in the library, available for purchase at the general store opened up by residents, at The Wolf's Glen, or even at the Town Welfare Center. In fact, there could be more than one book of this sort. Vampires came into Gehenna often. They were usually new, and clueless as to what on earth they were supposed to do with their newfound supernatural status. It was a common problem, so why not try to give the resources to potentially solve it?
Here is where H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. ran into another problem, however. They had graphic designers. They had a print shop. They printed instruction manuals all of the time for protocol, techniques, and the like. However, they had no one who could make a "self-help" type book. There was no one to author it.
That is, until the duo made a suggestion. They had a friend who could write, and was almost done with a novel he had been working on over the past year and a half. He was human, and could write from that perspective, but he was also understanding, and willing to listen and incorporate the views of others into his works. Well-tempered, aware of the supernatural, and good with words, they had a friend who could author these books. His name was Travis Sullivan.
Travis would be compensated for his work, and would most likely cooperate if asked nicely. With this, the council agreed to have this friend of theirs write, especially after having read some of the roughs that the man had sent to Ciel for his opinion. All they needed were a few hours away from tracking Mister Harris in order to talk to Travis. In fact, they simply left the prior task up to the Intelligence department, as tracking and locating targets was part of their occupation.
Finding Travis wasn't difficult. What was difficult was setting up an appointment. They couldn't simply waltz into his house, as he was no longer living on his own. To combat the depression of losing Preston to despair, he returned home to his parents' house, and it was because of this that things became tricky. They couldn't simply have their discussion around his parents, so the duo had to come up with something else. In the end, they invited him to their home in order to discuss an important commission.
This is why it was Travis who appeared before the manor as an important guest. The man stood before the manor, looking up at the intimidating structure with a notebook tucked under his arm. It had been awhile since he had set foot in this place. With him was his assistant and unexpected co-author, Patricia Ramirez.
Patricia was only initially supposed to be an advisor for combat scenes, giving her boxing background, but once it was brought to Travis' attention that she, too, was an English major at a university, he began having her do more than that. Eventually, she began authoring entire sections, and she had no qualms about it so long as she receives credit and financial compensation when the book goes to print.
She walked up the steps to the front of the manor, fiddling with the memory stick that held the current progress on their book on it in her pocket. Before Travis could even knock on the door, it opened, startling both writers as a man clad in black appeared before him and smiled.
"Ah, Mister Sullivan." Greeted the butler. "It's good to see you again. It's been awhile, hasn't it? Same goes for you, Miss Ramirez."
"You actually remember me?" asked Patricia. "You're thorough. I figured that I was just a side character."
"Of course. What kind of butler would I be if I could not remember names?" with that, Sebastian gestured inside. "Please, do come in."
As the pair walked inside, the woman looked toward her associate. "What the hell was that?" she whispered questioningly.
"Who knows? I think it's one of his catchphrases." Answered Travis in a similar tone. Both were oblivious to the small twitch of the butler's eyebrow as he led the two to his master's office.
Ciel sat on one of the sofas, conversing with Alois over a few documents. There were folders stacked neatly on the coffee table in front of them, and as the door to the room opened, the men placed the folder that they were looking at back in its place and turned their attention to their guests. Alois grinned and waved excitedly while his partner simply smiled.
"Travis!" called the blonde, looking as though he wanted to get up. He contained himself, obviously trying to maintain the air of a serious business meeting, but failing badly. He hadn't seen his friend in quite a while, so he was very keen on this visit. "Welcome back~!"
"It's good to see you again, Alois." Smiled Travis, taking a seat on the sofa on the other side of the table along with his own associate. "You remember Patricia?"
"Of course~! How are you? Had your fill of weird supernatural shit, yet?" the blonde jokingly inquired, turning to the girl.
"From the sounds of things, it doesn't matter even if I did." Patricia answered, shaking the hand of the watchdog as he reached across the table.
"We look forward to doing business with you." Said Ciel with a small nod.
"I accept my fate." The woman jested. "So, about this book?" she questioned, leaning back in her seat and draping her arms over the back of the couch. Crossing one leg over the other, she was comfortable, contrasting greatly with the quiet man seated next to her.
"Books, actually." Ciel corrected. "Two of them. One of them is about werewolves, and the other is about vampires."
"I'm not writin' Twilight fanfiction, mate…"
Giggling, the menace needed a moment to collect himself from that remark before speaking again. "No, no! It's more of a… self-help kinda thing, actually."
"So, self-help books for new werewolves and vampires?" questioned Travis, startling the two demons with his spot-on analysis.
"Well, yes." The bluenette replied. "I did say it was for H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. over the phone, yes?"
"Yeah, that's how I figured it out." Answered the Sullivan gentleman. "I'm pretty sure they've got all kinds of manuals on killing the supernatural, and people who're better candidates for writing them other than Patty and I."
"True, but who can write books meant for the general public?" inquired the Phantomhive. "That is where you come in."
"Alright, then. Do you know where I can find information on my subject, then?" Travis asked, being pleasantly agreeable, as was his nature.
"In the folders." Alois said, patting the stack of documents. "There's people to contact for information, how to reach them, and even some data."
"Oh, good." The human said. "Is that one werewolf girl who worked for H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. in here? I'd like to talk to a real werewolf, if I can."
"A… real werewolf?" echoed Patricia, a skeptical and somewhat nervous look crossing her features.
"Yep." The menace replied, picking up folders and flipping through them until he found the correct one. He presented the opened file to Travis to look over, handing it to him carefully so nothing spilled out. "Amelie Garou. Her wife is in there, too, so you can ask her for tips on dealing with a lycanthrope spouse. Also, since she's a vampire, she should be handy with the other book, too."
"Perfect." Travis answered, looking up from the folder in order to give his friend his attention. "Sounds simple enough, since everything's there. We'll get on it right away."
"Huh? Just like that?" asked his associate. The woman then turned her attention to the demons as well. "What about pay?"
That question caused the bluenette to chuckle; mostly because that is what he, too, would be concerned about. "Yes, we will discuss that as well." He informed. "Travis kind of jumped the gun, there. We will need your information in order to route the money into your accounts."
"Just how much are we talkin' here, eyepatch?" questioned the woman, leaning forward. "I'm not interviewin' no werewolves for peanuts, here."
Blinking, the Phantomhive sat back in his seat and rubbed his chin. That was an excellent question, and one that needed an answer. Unfortunately, H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. hadn't given them a budget.
"We will have to ask." He answered finally, prompting the woman to throw her hands up in the air.
"Nope." She said. "No deal. I know better than to strike a deal with someone with no money on the table. Not happening."
"Patricia…" Travis began, only to be cut off by a raising of the bluenette's hand.
"Understandable." Ciel stated. "That's very good business practice. We can call the office, if you'd like."
"I'd like." Patricia answered, prompting the bluenette to stand up. He then walked over to his desk and picked up the phone. The woman listened intently while Travis looked to the blonde seated across from him apologetically. Alois merely smiled in response and shook his head. It only took a few minutes for the Phantomhive to get the information he needed and hang up.
"Eighteen thousand." He informed.
"Only eightteen thousand?" asked Travis, causing the woman seated next to him to choke on her own spit.
"What do you mean 'only'? That's a lot of money!" she loudly stated. "I could do a lot with that!"
"That's only up front." Ciel informed, sitting back down. Crossing one leg over the other, he got comfortable in his seat. "Eightteen thousand for each of you."
"Each?!" gawked Patricia, placing a hand on her forehead and looking up at the ceiling.
"So, is it a deal, Miss Ramirez?" inquired the devil, smiling from across the table at her.
"You bet, chuckles." The woman answered, holding out her hand. "I'm in."
"I'm fine with this." Travis interjected as the other two shook on it. "I'm just happy to help out a friend."
"I'm sorry for the small amount. After that, you'll be getting paid by books sold, so it still probably won't be much overall, given Gehenna's population."
"I'm fine with this."
"God, rich people are annoying…" muttered Patricia, leaning back in her seat. Her eye caught the image of the blonde menace nodding at her knowingly.
"Tell me about it…"
