With a jolt, Ciel was awaken from a sleep without dreams. Hoping that he was safe at home was perhaps a bit too much for him to wish for, given the circumstances, yet somehow, he still found himself disappointed that he was still in Johnathan's lair. Worse still, he was inside of the glass box. Even worse, he was also restrained. Still, he had enough of his wits to realise that he needed to remain calm. Johnathan's entire intention was to get a rise out of the Phantomhive, and Ciel was determined not to give it to him, especially since he had gone through much worse before.

He tried to move his hands, only to find himself unsurprisingly restrained. In that moment, he recalled the strange cross-like system and looked down. Sure enough, he was tied up with his arms out like Jesus Christ, but perhaps even stranger was that he found himself shirtless as well with his eyepatch gone. Johnathan must be trying to humiliate him and he was a bit miffed to find that strangely, it worked to a slight degree. Having all of his scars on display was uncomfortable for him, as he knew that the average person may find it frightening or strange. His scars also gave his captor more fodder to torment him with, especially since his most traumatic one, the brand on his ribcage, was perhaps the most prominent one of them all.

There was no doubt that it delighted Johnathan in some way. He didn't want to ask. Unfortunately for him, however, the demon was right there waiting for him to wake up.

"Good morning." the other demon greeted. "Took you a while, didn't it?"

"What time is it?" questioned the bluenette, ignoring Johnathan's attempt at teasing.

"Rude as ever. I should have expected that, I suppose." Getting up from his seat, Johnathan walked up to the glass box and peered inside. "You never were the most 'sociable' of people, were you? At least, that's what I hear from your friend."

"Where's Finnian?"

"Alive. On my side. Doesn't feel too nice, being double-crossed, hm? Tell me, is there any end to your lack of tact? It seems like you've just… been this way your whole life? Why is that? Barking orders at people and abandoning them when it's convenient… You're a professional sort of scum, aren't you? Career scum. Like, you seriously seem to make it your life's mission to screw over as many people as possible!"

"You don't know anything about me. You know trivia, sure, but you aren't inside of my head." Ciel stated. "You will never gain access to that. Many have tried, and I highly doubt that you of all people will be the first."

"True, but also not. I wouldn't be the first, certainly, but there are people who have succeeded. Take Finnian for example: You've readily given him so much information about yourself in some bizarre attempt to ease your conscience and trick him into being a part of your life again, now that he's useful. Guilt is a serious weakness of yours, isn't it? I'm surprised you're able to feel it, considering how you murdered your own comrades in cold blood, both in the war, and a man who was practically my big brother! Or do they not count, since they're dead and can't judge you to your face?"

"Is this truly the best you have?" questioned the Phantomhive. "I've been hearing about how much of an awful person I am for over a hundred years. I assure you, my skin is a lot thicker than this."

"Interesting phrasing, considering the circumstance." Johnathan replied with a playful gesture. He held an item in his hand to Ciel's view. It was brief, but Ciel figured out it was a tablet. Unfortunately, given that it was Johnathan's that couldn't entail anything good. "Skin isn't thick enough to insulate you from everything. For example-"

With a push of a button on the device, electricity shot through the Watchdog's body at an absurd voltage. His skin burned and his muscles convulsed, expanding and contracting. He would have been flailing against his will had he not been tied down. It was painful enough and frightening enough to force Ciel to let out a scream. His face scrunched and twisted as a thin layer of sweat coated his skin. As quickly as it happened, however, Johnathan let go of the button and it stopped, leaving the Phantomhive panting and his heart racing as he tried his best to recover.

"That got to you, didn't it?" chuckled the other demon. "You can try to break the restraints if you want, but as soon as I see any kind of funny business, that box is gonna fill with rosemary-laced air."

Ciel's chest was laboriously rising and falling as he did his best to come up with a retort. His foe beat him to it, however, adding: "I can't imagine how it must feel, honestly, having your oldest, living, friend subject you to this suffering. Mister Gardener must really hate you, to turn you over to me… You seem to have that effect on people, though, so it was bound to catch up with you, eventually. Now you're finally facing consequences for your actions… Monster."

"If I'm a monster, I can only imagine what you are..." the Phantomhive panted. "What exactly is the end goal, here? To be as big of a bloody pain in the arse as possible and then…?"

"We'll get around to it, eventually. Didn't your parents teach you any kind of patience? Well… Daddy dearest will have the chance to, soon, won't he? As soon as he's done growing, I'll be sure to let him see exactly what his son has become. Since he'll be mine, too, I doubt he'll really mind taking over here, for a bit!"

"Who's the 'monster,' here, exactly?" Ciel grimaced, only to be shocked once again. It was for a shorter amount of time than the last, but it was still painful.

"But of course… I can't defeat a beast of your stature if I'm weak, now can I? Becoming a monster was always a necessity. If I'm kind to you, how will I be able to make you suffer for the things you did?"

"It takes a man to kill a monster… You always had a sadistic streak, according to your records… We saw them. All of them. We know what you were like before any of this. You just want to torture someone and I just happened to be the one who accidentally gave you a convenient excuse-"

The Watchdog screamed again as electricity shot through him, but this time, Johnathan's finger lingered. Twenty seconds doesn't seem like a long period of time, but in that moment, each one crawled by like years to the Phantomhive until his captor decided to stop. Johnathan did not like Ciel being so truthful. The adrenaline running through Ciel's system was almost overwhelming, but he knew that he needed to find enough of his senses to remember that.

Stepping forward, Johnathan placed his forehead directly against the glass and glared at the bluenette. Yet, despite his glare, it didn't seem like he was looking at the Phantomhive- rather, it seemed as though he was staring through him.

"You don't know me. No one knows me." he said. "I'm just doing my best."

Then, the life seemed to return to his eyes and he smiled again, taking a step back. "I spent a long time getting ready for this, you know." Johnathan paused, shaking his head. "I thought I'd have to wrestle you in here… I'm sort of disappointed, actually. I really wanted to fight you."

"If you're so disappointed, then let me out. I'll fight you." growled the Phantomhive.

"See! That's exactly what I wanted from you! That anger." Johnathan paused to kiss his fingers. "Delicious! But no, I don't plan on letting you go just yet. I still have other things to do before I give you a fighting chance. For example: I have a drone over there that I was planning on flying over the battle tonight. I was hoping to be able to show you your husband getting impaled."

"Jim is strong. He can walk it off."

"Ah, but can he defeat an unkillable reverent hopped up on demon's blood?" Mister Beattie questioned, noting the surprised look on his captive's face. "What? You didn't think Abhartach would take advantage of having a demon in his midst?"

That wasn't part of the backup plan. That had Ciel worried, but he couldn't show Johnathan even a glimpse of that. The Watchdog didn't know how Alois was going to fare alone in this fight, but luckily, from what Johnathan had told him, he still had some time to make his escape.

Meanwhile, Alois stared at his phone, rereading the last text message he was sent before checking the time. Ciel was late. His plan was taking much longer than he anticipated and his husband was not pleased. Alois furrowed his brow and huffed as he tried to shake off the urge to immediately rush to Sir Phantomhive's aid. The Lion, although he had utmost faith in his spouse, had thought that this was quite frankly, a reckless and stupid plan, but his protests were drowned out by Ciel and Finnian's agreement that rushing in to Johnathan's lair head-first was a good idea. If Alois had his way, the Watchdog would have waited until after the invasion, but he knew better than to come between Ciel and matters relating to his parents. There was no way that Alois could win. He wasn't too terribly confident in his husband's backup plan, either. Still, with Ciel still gone and daylight burning, he had no other choice.

He got himself ready, putting on one of his cheap, black worksuits, but neglecting to wear a tie. He didn't want any enemies grabbing onto it and trying to strangle him with it, so since his husband wasn't there, he stopped worrying about the image of the suave, yet somewhat shady government agent. With a sigh, he gathered himself enough to more on to the next step. All of his weapons were loaded and weaved into his demonic garb except for one last item.

His reluctance was apparent in the way that he slowly walked over to the table in the front room. Bending over, he picked up the wooden sword by it's wooden sheath before pulling it out to look at the blade. He still wasn't confident that this would be able to kill Abhartach, but perhaps more so lacking in confidence when it came to that than he had in the likelihood of his beau's plan working. If Ciel wasn't back home by daybreak, the plan was for Alois to take the sword to the battlefield and wait for the bluenette to meet him there. If there was one thing that Alois was confident and had faith in, it was that Ciel would meet him there no matter what. The Watchdog had sworn to his family on the name of his kin.

So with that, he weaved the weapon into his garb and left the room. Quickly, he made his way to the foyer, rapidly stepping down the stairs until he was met by the remaining members of the household. Because of the scale of the mission and the cleanup that would be required, Revy was already at Hellsing Headquarters, so that just left Sebastian and Luka.

"This place is on lockdown until this is all over." he told them. "We don't know if the house is going to be attacked again or not, so stay alert. Luka, just this once, I want you to have your shotgun out and at the ready."

"For once, I'm not happy about that." Luka said, shaking his head with a scrunched up face.

"Shooting targets is fun, shooting people who are trying to come into your house in order to kill you isn't."

"Agree to disagree." Sebastian chimed in, trying to lighten the mood somewhat, but the blonde was out of humour for the time being.

"Lock-down." Alois repeated sternly before heading to the door. "I'll be back when we've kicked everybody's asses."

"What if you need help?" asked his sibling, tearing his attention away from the door. Alois walked backwards for a moment until his hand touched the door handle.

"I'll call. Pinky promise." There was no way in hell Alois was going to include Luka in a battle that big, but Luka didn't need to know that at that specific moment. With that, the blonde headed out the door and made his way to headquarters, where he would be briefed in the operation again before being transported to the site.

HELLSING had already started moving into defensive positions a while before this. As soon as they suspected an attack on Buckingham Palace, they mobilised. Now, they were simply bulking up on their defenses, working with the appropriate powers in order to minimize damage. Roads were blocked, Her Majesty's armed forces were joining the HELLSING militia in their efforts, having been armed with whatever HELLSING could provide them with, since the lack of anti-freak weaponry in other agencies proved problematic. Some soldiers were simply armed with ordinary firearms, but at the very least, it would slow down advancing enemy forces enough so that someone who was properly armed could dispatch them. Everything was frantic, but it was an organised sort of "frantic" that only professionals could exemplify.

Practically every department at Headquarters was on high alert, ready to strike anything that came their way. The Intelligence Department prepared to pick up as much information as possible in order to dispense it through the appropriate channels to whoever needed it. Dispatch was ready to mobilise backup unites in case what was already on the battlefield wasn't enough. The Vehicles and Weapons departments were ready to delegate their respective resources, while Supply was prepared to order in anything and everything from bullets to bombs. The Medical Wing was ready to take in any wounded and The Media Management Department was ready to squash any coverage of the battle ever taking place. A total media blackout was nessecary.

Revy Macken, although aware of the danger that his siblings were in at that very moment, did his very best to stay focused on his own duties in order to support Alois. It was the only way that he could. Still, he worried immensely about the potential of an attack on the Phantomhive household again, as Luka was still young- no older than thirteen!- and expected to take arms if the situation demanded it of him. Revy had faith in Sebastian's abilities to keep his brother safe, but the possibility still nagged at the back of his mind. The Revenant himself wasn't nearly as "ride or die" as any of his family members, although he did have significant HELLSING training. Basic firearms training was required of all staff members, regardless of department, and Revy was perhaps the most trained of any of his immediate coworkers in the Media Management Department. That was both somehow a comfort to him, and incredibly terrifying.

Even the Supernatural Resources Department was working, as they needed Gehenna to be protected as well. Troops were already stationed there and what remained of the somewhat worse-for-wear Gehenna Police Department was also begrudgingly ready to defend if necessary. Perhaps most pressingly for both sides, however, was that the civilians were ready as well.

People huddled in their homes with their families, brandishing whatever they had access to as weapons. Kitchen cutlery, tools, gardening supplies, and practically anything sharp or heavy was kept close, just in case. If a supernatural had claws, they would use them. If a supernatural had fangs, they would use them. If a supernatural could use magic, they would use it, and they did, even before there was even a sniff of the Philosophers in the air.

It was unlawful and it posed a threat to the current balance of power in place, but Gehenna's witches were preparing in their own way. Their rings, wands, staffs, and athames were all unintentionally legal weapons in the city, and they used them to make other weapons. There were vials of potions that would explode or have some other nasty effects on impact in addition to other unpleasantries alongside their spells.

"If anyone tries to break down those walls, we seal freeze them." stated one of Gehenna's most notorious witches, Wink, the traitor of the Scarlet Order.

If there was anyone who was well-versed in rebellion, it was her, but these days, her loyalties sat firmly with Gehenna above all else. She needed to take action, not just because this was her home, but because of those fools who left Gehenna during the first attack, running around calling themselves "The New Scarlet Order." It made her sick.

She, along with her fellow traitors who helped aid the Lion escape the Order's ocean fortress, donned the colours of Gehenna alongside a few other concerned citizens. Purple, green, and gold easily identified them as members of the defensive forces, as they didn't have any military or police uniforms to show their affiliations.

"A massive ice wall, just like we did on the Brahmastra." She said. "I can freeze one gate on my own, but it would be good to have one or two sorcerers with me to back me up. We need six on the other gates. Nine would be ideal, but if we don't have the numbers, as long as it's a multiple of three, it should be fine."

"And we should be ready to bash anybody's heads in who gets in, right?" spoke up another party member.

"That's right. Anybody who can't use magic needs to pitch in in any way they can." Wink nodded. "It's a full moon and we know a good number of our enemy are werewolves. Werewolves with swords. They're going to be fast, so be very, very careful. Everyone, and I mean everyone, needs to watch each other's backs. What's the status of the kids?"

"Girasol's shelter is full. We can't take any more." chimed in Kyung-Soon Park, the leader of London's greatest vampire coven. She, along with her own, were brandishing their own marks, the emblem of the sunflower, as identification in this mess. Naturally, Girasol would come to aid Gehenna in this trying time, just as always. Because they were anticipating an attack this time, those in this odd, protective league had persuaded everyone with a bunker to take in children so that they would be protected in the event of an invasion. "All of our people are up here. The only people down in the bunker are kids and a few adults to look after them. The church is packed, too."

"What about the Welfare Center?"

"Filled to the brim." Police Chief Sibyl informed. "They're still looking for a safe place for a few stragglers. Some of them are just staying home with their families, though. Everyone should keep looking, though. There's no such thing as 'good enough,' this time."

"Since when are you so strict?" Wink inquired.

"Since I saw some of my officers die while fighting this lot." With an authoritative voice, Tegwen continued. "As soon as that sun sets, every single citizen needs to be on high alert. I don't know what our chances are, but we're not going to make it easy for them."

Shelter was hard to find in Gehenna, but everyone did the very best that they could. The bunkers could house many, but not nearly enough to be safe or completely effective. The church was known to be a safe space last time, given the faoladh's religious leanings, but no one knew for certain if it would stay that way. Those who could find arrangements in Pyestock went there, while others did similarly with wherever would take them. Although Kristopherson had his own saferoom underneath his shop, he gave it up so that children could use it in his place. In addition, it would be difficult for him to transform while there, so he needed to find somewhere else to go. Fortunately, his own family was more than accommodating.

The Miles household was located on the outskirts of the city, so it was believed to be away from the main action in any capacity. That didn't mean that they thought that they were perfectly safe, however. They didn't have any defenses whatsoever if they were attacked, but luckily, they didn't have any targets on their backs. Less fortunately, however, despite having plenty of rooms for Kristopherson and his beau to stay, none of them were soundproof, leaving Kristopherson to worry.

"Jesus, is Kristopherson planning on feeding an army?" Missus Miles inquired, peering into the refrigerator. "I don't think I've seen so much meat in my entire life!"

"That's actually a bit less than he usually eats, so he might sneak downstairs to raid your pantry after everyone's asleep." Logan answered. It seemed as though he was far more comfortable in his boyfriend's family home than Kristopherson was, as the incubus allowed himself to walk around the house in his full, supernatural glory. His skin was blue, his horns and tail were out, but no one seemed to mind or even bat an eye at it.

"Is he really that scary-looking?" Andrea asked, shutting the door as she turned to the incubus. "I figured that if I can handle you, I can handle him!"

"He's not scary at all, I don't think. He's about a foot taller and is even fuzzier than usual with pointier nails and a wolf-head, but other than that, he's Kris." Pausing to think, Logan shook his head. "Actually, scratch that… The scariest thing about him is watching him eat."

"Are you saying he… wolfs down his food?"

"I know that's a pun, but yeah… Tears off huge chunks of raw meat and practically inhales them… It's kind of disturbing."

"Aren't young men just like that?"

"More or less." Logan chuckled with a shrug. "Part of his nerves are probably just the moon. Werewolves tend to get a bit antsy the closer it is."

"What about you?" questioned Andrea, leaning on the island in the middle of the kitchen as she spoke to the young man. "You seem anxious, too."

"I mean, my house may get attacked tonight and my family's still in Gehenna. That, and if the sword I made for Ciel doesn't work, things could get really bad… I don't really want to think about it, to be honest. I feel like that's awful of me, though."

"Sounds like you could use a drink." the woman nodded, moving to walk toward her liquor cabinet. "Come on." she said, gesturing for the incubus to follow her with her long nails. "Let's talk about it."

Blinking, Logan did as he was told. While Kristopherson's regenerative abilities prevented him from becoming intoxicated, Logan had no such abilities and drank himself into a stupor along with a woman who was convinced that he was one day going to become her son-in-law. All the while, his boyfriend was doing his best to prepare for the full moon along with everyone else they knew.

A few of their friends found their own shelter elsewhere, but in a rather peculiar place. Perhaps it wasn't too terribly peculiar, but it still wasn't exactly "ordinary." The Marquis of Midford- otherwise unofficially known as "Sir" Midford in the Round Table's circle- found his home with a few additional faces that evening. Samantha and her brother, Daniel, were unsurprising, given the girl's friendship with Rupert's daughter, but joining them was a family that he didn't recognise.

"Are you friends of the Westley family?" inquired the nobleman, looking to the somewhat nervous-looking warlock that joined them.

"Oh! Yes! I'm Theodore Ravenscroft! It's very nice to meet you!" the other man shakily declared, obviously intimidated by the unfamiliar presence of someone of Rupert's stature. "I work with Daniel at the Gehenna Town Welfare Center and am also friends with him." he explained before gesturing to the young girl with him. "This is my daughter, Ruby."

"Don't be so frightened! I don't bite!" the Midford said, throwing his head back in laughter as he gave the man a pat on the back. His friendly gesture, however, was hard enough to send the poor warlock lurching forward, slightly. With that, the blonde crouched down in front of the girl, getting on her level momentarily. "I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, knowing such a sweet little thing needed a place to stay!"

Standing up again, he grunted as his back popped and creaked. "Oof… I didn't think I was this old..."

"You've been crunchy as long as I can remember, dad." Rupert's own daughter chimed in, having looked up from what she was doing. She was seated on one of the sofas, while Samantha was seated on the floor in front of her, allowing her to braid her hair.

"Why don't you come over here, Ruby? I'll braid your hair, too!" offered Samantha, patting the ground in front of her. The Ravenscroft girl looked up at her father for silent permission before quickly dashing over to the Westley woman.

Samantha often babysat for Theodore while he and Daniel hung out for a bit after work, somedays, so Ruby was both familiar and comfortable with her. That, however, left poor, Mister Ravenscroft with no excuse to avoid hanging out with the somewhat overly-hospitable Midfords, who refused to let him go for quite some time. When he was finally free, he found Daniel, who was similarly tired from having been forced to socialise, as well. Tiredly, he plopped down on one of the other sofas next to Daniel with a heavy sigh.

"Are they always like this?" he quietly asked, prompting the Westley to smile.

"Pretty much." Daniel replied. "You get used to it. I'd have to come over sometimes to pick up or drop off Sam when she was in secondary school. You learn to cope."

"You said they know about magic, right? Was I fine not talking about it, or..?"

"You did great, and yeah, they totally know. We know each other through my sister being friends with Rupert's daughter, yeah, but also because I was schoolmates with Ciel. The Midfords are related to both the Phantomhives, and the Hellsings, and they talk about this stuff all the time. You're good."

"Wait, what?! Hold on…. Hold on… You mean THE Phantomhives and THE Hellsings!?"

"Yep."

"I'm going to collapse..." Theodore lamented, sinking further into his seat. "It was terrifying enough, knowing that he's a noble, and now this? I can't… I can't cope..."

"It's just another one of those weird things that becomes totally normal after a while." Daniel informed. "That's why I was able to get a job at the Center and deal with moving to a supernatural city so easily. It's just… ordinary."

"I guess… That's funny, though… Usually, it's humans who freak out about magic, but here I am freaking out over humans..." Shaking his head, Theodore finally uttered a small laugh. "You're wild, Dan."

"Nah, I'm the most boring person I know. Just your average Joe. I'm not a genius like Sam, super athletic or noble like the Midfords, a great writer like Travis and Pat, an expert creep like Audrey, or a demon, or magic, or anything. I'm just a boring grownup with nothing really special about me. Weird thing is, I'm kind of okay with that?"

"You might think so, but I totally disagree." Ravenscroft said, causing the other man to look at him funny. "You just go with the flow, y'know? Always trying new things, always ready to move on to the next thing, and always dealing with the weird shit as it comes while never letting it bother you, much… Wait..."

"It's okay to say 'shit.' Everybody else is in the other room." Daniel replied, smiling as a relieved look came over the other's face. "But I don't really know if I do any of those things. I mess up all the time and I don't always know what to say. Sometimes, I say the wrong things and screw up really bad. I've just learned that it's nobody's fault but mine, and the only thing to do about it is fix it the best I can and let it go if I can't. There's no point in worrying about small shit like whether or not the bloke sitting next to me is a warlock or whatever when there's other, more important shit to think about."

"Everybody has ideas about what's the best thing to do in any situation, I think, but I think having no clue is also pretty normal. Maybe admitting that you don't know everything or were just straight-up wrong is just a step toward doing things right." Pausing, the warlock looked past Daniel for a moment, avoiding his direct gaze with his cheeks dusted with a very faint light pink. "Anyway, I think you're pretty great..."

Daniel blinked as a sudden, fluttering feeling surged through his chest. Just like Theodore avoided his gaze, now Daniel looked off to the side as well. "Yeah… Uh… You too..."

The silence between them was long and it was awkward as neither of them could really bring themselves to continue the conversation. They sat there, shifting until both of them were staring straight ahead and not at each other. The whole time, they rehearsed several sentences to break the silence with in their heads, but still needed longer in order to muster up the courage to just pick one and go with it. Even Daniel, who was once famed for his ability to spout nonsense whenever possible could say nothing, as rust had eroded his comfort in doing so with time.

"Uhm-!" Theodore finally said in an attempt at starting. The suddenness and volume of the noise actually caused Daniel to flinch, but certainly captured his attention. "Hey, uh, Dan?"

"Yeah?" the Westley answered, finally turning his head to look at the other. His coworker was still facing forward, but looked down at his hands in his lap. Daniel always thought the man had a strong profile and still thought so, even as Theodore looked immensely uncomfortable. Watching carefully, Daniel could see him open and close his mouth a few times before taking a deep breath and letting it out in a huff. Finally, Theodore turned his head, wearing perhaps the greatest expression of meek determination that Daniel had ever seen.

"I-!" With that, the very same determination deflated in front of the Westley's very eyes. Daniel couldn't help but be captivated by it, especially when the warlock tried to build it back up again while talking. "I mean- Well… Uh… Some shit is really going down tonight and I don't have any idea what's going to happen or what it means for the future… but, what I'm saying is! Uh… I dunno- I mean! I do know! Er, what I'm trying to say, I mean… I know that. Ugh!"

Abruptly, Theodore brought his hand to his forehead, squeezing his eyes tight as the sting of the impact brought him back to his senses. Then, as he tried to gather his words again, he heard laughter coming from the seat next to him. It wasn't a light chuckle, either. It was hearty and it was loud. Lowering his hand, Theodore blinked as he stared at the brunet with a vacant face and his cheeks as red as the fresh mark on his forehead.

Daniel quickly brought a hand do his mouth, but he couldn't control it. All at once, his nerves had come undone and he laughed. He laughed at Theodore, but it wasn't out of meanness. Far from it.

"What?" Mister Ravenscroft finally asked. "What's so funny?"

"You!" the Westley somehow managed to answer between snickers. "You're just-! You're really cute, Ted."

Blinking, Theodore did his best to take that in. "Uhm! You too! But… Also, you're pretty handsome..." he mumbled.

His coworker finally managed to stifle his laughter, dulling it down until only his flushed face and the dopiest grin that Daniel never knew he could make remained. Moments passed, and Daniel sat up straight to look at the other man. "Hey, Ted?"

"Yeah?"

"After all of this is settled… do you wanna go get dinner sometime?" the Westley inquired. "Y'know, as a date?"

"Uh… Sure!" the other man replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck with a smile. "I'd love to..."

Even though things were considerably bleak at the moment, there was still comfort to be found when it was endured with the people that one trusted and one cared about. Even while far apart, the demonic duo felt supported by one another and trusted that they would keep their promises. They were also determined to keep their own. Even then, as Alois ventured to the battlefield and Ciel laid bound and imprisoned, they could trust in each other. As the sun continued to soar across the sky, changing it from blue to a lazy orange glow on one side, Finnian opened the large doors in front of him.

"Oh, it's you."


A/N: Another cliffhanger... Ugh... I was actually going to keep going, but this felt like a good place to end it. The next chapter should be either fairly long or fairly short. I'm going to shoot for long, so I can avoid a cliffhanger that I honestly think is a bit unnecessary.

I'm also really sorry that I didn't get into Finny's whole deal in this chapter, too. I felt like it would be better to have that be it's own chapter, so that it wasn't bogged down by all of this other stuff. Still, I feel bad, since I know that you all want to know. It isn't my intention to tease you, it's just how this chapter turned out.

It deviated from what I initially wanted to do by a significant margin. I actually wanted there to be this whole, philosophical bit about the concept of "intentions" because I feel like it would foreshadow future stuff and hit home current stuff. I just couldn't get it to flow at all... I'll do something else. It shouldn't be a big deal.

I do really apologise for not hitting on the stuff that's really dire, this chapter. I am going to get to it straight away in the next chapter and ideally, you shouldn't come away disappointed from it.

Ideally. Writing is hard and shit happens. I'm going for the gold, so fingers crossed!

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!