Chapter 18

Luciana had only gone to sleep at 3 in the morning. Sebastian hadn't been very appreciative of her comment and made sure that she would regret it. So by the end of their 'lesson' her hand had hurt like crazy. The girl honestly couldn't remember a time when she had written that much.

"GYAAAAAA!"

A shout awoke Luciana from her peaceful slumber. She turned around groaning, reaching under the pillow for her phone. Almost instantly the light blinded her and she turned away with a startled hiss. Luce should frankly be used to this by now, but she had always preferred the dark rather than bright light- it didn't hurt her eyes. Blinking the 18 year old let herself adjust and slowly looked back at the screen- 7am. "The bloody hell is going on?" She shut her eyes with a groan and buried her face into her pillow. It was way too early- No. On second thought, she was normally ready for the day by this time. Where the hell was Sebastian? And why hadn't he woken her up yet? Languidly she decided to start getting dressed for another day of cleaning, lest the demon come to torture her some more.

The girl sighed tying her hair into a loose bun while striding into the kitchen. Empty. 'Where is everyone?' She frowned; usually they would be here making preparations for the day or getting their heads chewed off by Sebastian. This was so odd. Luciana walked off deciding to look for them. The corridors were empty- no sign of Mey-Rin or anyone else, but she could hear a commotion coming from the dining room. 'That's probably where they all are.' She yawned, taking a peek out the window. "The hell- are those elephants?" Perplexed Luce walked up to the window. Was she imagining things? The girl rubbed her eyes not trusting her sleep deprived state. 'Nope, they're still there.' She stared at them a little more closely and noticed the elephants reflect in the sun light. She snapped her fingers with understanding. "Oh~ they're ice statues." Now it all made sense- well, more than before at least. 'I mean, can elephants even survive this cold weather?' She shrugged, tilting her head at the statues. They had amazing detail- really well done. Luce took her phone out of her apron pocket, taking a few pictures of the elephants. She grinned, something to remember this trip by.

Entering the dining room, Luciana's eyes widened at the incredible smell of spice. 'Wow...' She gaped at the assortment of food displayed on the table; there was such a variety of colors and flavors that her mouth watered at the sight. 'Oh the smell~' She inhaled deeply, savoring the amazing scent. She could almost taste it. The food was just begging to be eaten- and it was times like these she hated being a maid. With a rueful sigh she snapped out of her trance and set her attention on Sebastian, who seemed baffled. "I take it this wasn't your doing?"

The butler turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "My, you're awake too." She glared at him.

"Ah!" It gained the pair's attention, "I apologize it was presumptuous of me to have prepared all this myself." The Indian butler explained sheepishly. Well, there wasn't a need for him to apologize. His skill was certainly impressive. 'Better question is; can I have some?' At this point she would even take leftovers.

"Oh you shouldn't have- Please just relax. You are our guest." Sebastian argued, not wanting to bother the guests. After all, it was bad for their reputation.

"Oh don't worry, it's nothing!" Agni humbly waved off his remark. "The prince is of course excluded... but I am a mere butler, so I can at least lend you a hand." The foreigner seemed to exude the aura of a saint with a blinding smile that stunned Sebastian. He was so perplexed by the Indian man.

'Aren't the two just lovely together...a match made in London~' Her eyes glinted with amusement as the demon then turned to the other servants with a mocking close eyed smile. "Why don't you all kneel and beg for even a scrap of Agni's talents. Perhaps then you would improve a little." In seconds, the idiot trio threw themselves at the Indian man begging for scraps with Tanaka smiling in the background.

Luciana laughed. "You should have known sarcasm wouldn't work." The demonic butler sighed irritably but didn't deny her.

"So?" Ciel leaned his head onto his palm, "How long do you two intend to stay in my house?"

"We'll leave once our work is done."

"Aren't you two looking for someone?" Lau questioned. The boy earl didn't seem too enthralled by the idea. He didn't even understand why of all places in London, they had to stay at his house.

"Oh that's right. We're looking for..." The prince took out a drawing showing it to the occupants of the room, "this lady." Luce lifted an incredulous eyebrow at the sketch. 'A stick figure would have looked better.' "Her name is Meena. She was a handmaiden at my palace. You'll recognize her instantly when you see her in person." Somehow she doubted that.

"Sebastian, can you find her with this?" Ciel turned a stern look at his butler. The sooner their guests were done, the sooner they would leave and he would finally be rid of them. 'What does one have to do for a semblance of peace?'

"Even for me that's..." The young earl narrowed his eyes at his butler. "I'll try my best." Sebastian amended.

"I have never seen such a beautiful lady~" Lau continued to peer at the sketch with a large grin, but despite his words, his expression seemed more of the mocking kind.

Not that the prince seemed to notice. "Of course! She is the most beautiful lady in my palace!" Soma grinned with pride. 'While that may be, we wouldn't know by that sketch.' She chuckled quietly. His idiocy was actually kind of cute.

"So? Why is she in England?" Ciel's question fell on deaf ears as neither of the guests bothered to listen. Instead they knelt before a peculiar statue, praying. "What the hell is this?" Ciel gaped at the two as Lau and his two servants came up behind him.

"That's a Hindu goddess." The three men turned to Luce with looks of intrigue and shock.

"How do you know?"

"She has several arms and heads hanging around her neck." The maid shrugged as if that were the most logical explanation. It wasn't like she could say, 'I had ethics class and learned it there'- at least not in front of their guests.

"It's just the statue of a woman who holds men's heads, wears them as a necklace and happily dances on a man's stomach. That's how I see it." Sebastian argued. It probably wasn't even that far from the truth.

"Your maid is correct master Ciel." Said boy turned an impressed look to his new maid, so she did know a few things. Luciana merely smirked. "This is a statue of the goddess Kali from the Hindu religion we have faith in." Agni explained still kneeling before the statue "She is the wife of our god Shiva and is also the goddess of power." 'I feel like I've heard this before...' Luce tilted her head thoughtfully. "A long time ago, a demon recklessly challenged her to a fight. Of course the goddess won..."

"Of course." Luce mumbled sarcastically.

"...However, since then her destructive urge was not settled and she became engrossed in destruction and massacres." Agni sniffed, a heartbroken expression crossing his face.

"She caused more damage than the demon eh?" Lau let out an amused grin.

Not minding any of the comments, the Indian man continued his tale, "When the other gods couldn't stop Kali, they decided to destroy this world at any cost." 'Wow, hold your horses! That went from 0 to 100 in an instant...' Luce blinked in shock. "And that's when! In order to protect this world, her husband, the god Shiva lay down at her feet." Agni beamed full of pride.

"Ahh! So it's just matrimonial quarrel." The demon nodded with understanding.

"You are so weird..." The time traveler face palmed.

"After Kali had trampled her husband, the goddess returned to us and this world remained peaceful. In other words, she is a goddess who defeated the demon after a great struggle. And for that, she holds his head as proof." Agni finished off with a satisfied and serene look.

"So you say..." Ciel turned his gaze to the household demon, looking for some kind of reaction.

"If such a strong person exists, I should be careful when I go to India."

"You do that..." Luciana chuckled.

Have you got all the Christmas shopping done? Because I totally haven't...I've been too busy binge watching gilmore girls starting from season 1.
Anyways, thanks for reading and thank you for all the awesome reviews!