CHAPTER 14 - "DEATH AND REBIRTH"

In the Drawing Room of the Phantomhive Mansion…

"How do you wish to approach this, brother?" Lukas said. Renfrew had told them that Lazarus may be in possession of certain religious scrolls that plausibly contained spells of resurrection. "If indeed what he has is true, I would agreed, wholeheartedly, that our parents could - and should - be restored from death."

"If what Lazarus has can be taken with validity, that is," Ciel said. "There have been many hoaxes throughout the ages that have promised such things - the foundation of youth and alchemists promising gold from base metals, for example. None of which have come to pass as far as I know…" He looked to the Undertaker for confirmation.

Salem chuckled, but merely put up his hands. He remained sitting in his chair albeit leaning back in it. "If indeed such things have come to pass, my lord, I can not tell you. I am bound by Reaper policy. If such information were to ever be revealed, I would say it would cause chaos in the human world."

"Indeed, but in the right hands, each one I stated would benefit one greatly."

"Vanity and greed are two of human's greatest flaws, among others."

Ciel did not disagree.

"But I can tell you," Salem continued, "that Lazarus is getting close. All he needs is Sebastian's demonic powers to give the words of the scrolls he has power. And if other factors are in place, whatever they may be, then his son may indeed rise from the grave with his soul returning to his body. And there is nothing the Reaperdum can do about it, because it is very old magic."

"What do you mean? I thought the Reapers were all-knowing, all-seeing people?" Lukas said.

Salem looked at him. "You are mistaken in that assumption, my lord. We see what we are able, and if an event occurs, we can look back and learn how it occurred, but we can not reverse the happenstance."

"But you can look into the future and see what will transpire, correct?"

"Correct. But we Reapers rarely interfere in human affairs unless authorized to do so."

"I believe we should give Lazarus what he wants," Ciel then stated.

Renfrew finally spoke up, listening to the other's discuss matters that didn't concern him. But this did.

If Ciel did give Lazarus Sebastian, then Lazarus would honor his promise to release his spirit from eternal damnation and wipe away the sin of his suicide - a sin, the ultimate sin, and the only sin God did not give forgiveness for, because you threw away the precious gift of life He granted.

"I agree," he said. "Give Lazarus what he wants."

"Pardon?" Lukas retorted. "How could you agree to that?"

"I believe your brother is regarding his decision on the logical assumption that would benefit all parties involved. If Lazarus has the scrolls and can resurrect his son, then he can do the same with your parents, and in the process, erase the covenant Ciel has with Sebastian once the demon's powers are utilized."

"A demonic covenant can not just be erased," Lukas said, but not confidently. He looked to the Undertaker for confirmation, but Salem appeared to be thinking, looking blankly despite his eyes were hidden behind long baings of hair. Lukas turned back to Renfrew. "And if so, then where would it leave Sebastian?"

"Dead," Renfrew said simply. "Demons can die just like all beings."

Lukas blinked flabbergasted, and looked at Ciel, who looked indifferent to killing Sebastian. Then he eyed Renfrew with contempt with his sudden revelation. "You planned this all along, you damn ghost. You and Lazarus are in cahoots. You concocted a plan to incapacitate Sebastian so Lazarus could retrieve his body and use him in a ceremony to resurrect his dead son."

"There may have been some planning involved, I will admit," Renfrew said. "But I do not regret it."

"Why? What do you get from these actions?"

"Release from damnation." Renfrew's voice was icy cold. "Suicide is a sin unforgivable in the eyes of God. In helping Lazarus resurrect his son, whom of which was in the amphitheatre on the day of the Great Death with Ciel, and for whom Sebastian slaughtered the Inner Circle members with countless others - including kidnapped children to be used as sacrifices like Ciel - I can, hopefully, redeem myself in God's eyes by killing one of his enemies, while benefiting one of his innocent children killed by one of Lucifer's children."

"Ah," Salem said, putting up a hand, "but you have not revealed the whole story, have you?" Renfrew eyed him. "The true nature of your guardianship in Lukas's mind, for example."

"Be quiet, old man. This is not the time or place for that conversion."

Salem chuckled again, apparently not taking offense to being called 'old', which in fact he was - very old - regardless of his youthful appearance. "But everything is interconnected and it revolves around Sebastian. Allow me to get this little piece of information out in the open and then we will leave it at that, for now."

Ciel put closed fist on his hips. "So it is decided, we give Lazarus Sebastian."

"No, it is not decided, brother," Lukas protested strongly. "And I disagreed with merely handing him over to be murdered, unable to defend himself in his present state. We do not know if Lazarus has this power, and if so, what havoc is could cause to the natural world."

"In the natural world? You are a fool, Lukas. Evil men murdered out parents, kidnapped you, tried to kill me - and then attempted to set upon having us be used as pawns to release a demon from Hell's Gates. And you protest in correcting these evil deeds? We could also restore all those children Sebastian murdered and return them to their grieving parents…undo many wrongs."

"How very generous of you, my lord," Salem said, somewhat sarcastically.

For a moment Lukas stood speechless. His mouth opened, but no words came out, and he looked around the room, at Salem, at Renfrew, and then back at Ciel, for some hint of what was the right decision. And he was conflicted on the moral/ethical decision. Sebastian had saved him from the Fallen Reapers and helped him restore some of his memories, but would sacrificing him for the sake of restoring the lives of his parents and others be the best thing? He slumped his shoulders. He didn't know what to do or say.

Ciel's teeth showed as he smiled smug. "For once, Lukas, I have you speechless. No argument of ethics spewed at me, because you know I am right. We will heed a partnership with Lazarus, restore our parents back to the living, void my covenant with Sebastian and then live out our lives as intended. Happy."

"I still think this is wrong…"

"Then you an idiot."

For once, Lukas did not retort, and slumped further into his chair around the table. But if what Ciel had planned did succeed, could he really be happy knowing that he had sacrificed a friend for it?

A entity suddenly appeared. It was another Reaper.

It was Grell Sutcliffe in his blood red attire and ankle length coat, long red hair and standard black Reaper spectacles. He didn't look happy, hands cupped on his hips. "I won't allow it, I simply won't allow it! You won't hand over sweet, lovable Bassey to a complete stranger! Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Three members of the Illuminati stood in the main audience hall chambers of their congregation building. It was decorated wall-to-wall with carpeting and laminate flooring, and on the walls were banners and tapestry's with symbols of the Illuminati.

In the far end of the room was a stage with stairs on either side, housing a podium where the Head of the Branch stood during meetings reciting recent events and future plans, Wilhelm Lycan Lazarus III.

Lazarus wasn't here, but three branch mangers were and they were concerned. They stood together on a lengthy blood red carpet embroiled with the iconic symbol of the Illuminati, adopted from their brethren in America, for which these three men had great invested business interests in aside from within the British Commonwealth. It was said America was where the power and money was and the Illuminati now had their hands in every aspect of its society - every social, political and financial circle, albeit secretly.

"He has become ever more delusional," McDermott said. "Lazarus must be outcasted."

"I concur with Brother McDermott," Erich Von Strauss said to the other man with them. "A new leader of this branch must be appointed."

"The next in line is yourself, Brother Von Strauss," Thibeau said. "But a vote must be cast."

"We are the three highest members, we can make the decision now."

"The council must make the final decision, even if we three are in agreement," McDermott said.

"Then we are in agreement? Tell the council to remove Lazarus. Accounts have reported that he has squandered hundreds of thousands of dollars on his personal quest to resurrect his dead son with no legitimacy to his claim that it can be done."

"It can't be done, Brother Von Strauss," McDermott said. "Once a person is dead, they are dead. And yes, I am in full agreement with you for Lazarus to be removed from office. And I have it on good authority that every member of the immediate council is in accord with our sentiments. It will only take a day for the change in leadership to happen, then your inauguration can take place. Lazarus has no more allies here."

The sound of the main audience hall chambers large wide doors opening abruptly interrupted their reverie, and to all their shock, Lazarus strolled in with a small child about ten years of age. Lazarus wore a black large handkerchief or head-chief on his head, tied at the back. It covered his entire head and forehead.

The child smiled. He had thick blonde hair that came down to his light-colored eyebrows. And he wore a custom-tailored white suit and white tie. In all intended purposes, the boy looked an angel.

It also just so happened to be the same white suit that Johnny Lazarus had been wearing and buried in after Lazarus demanded the pieces of the boy's body be sworn together after he was found in the amphitheatre being used by the Inner Circle to conduct their bloodlust sacrifices. Lazarus later exhumed the body and mummified his son, after he found what he said were sacred scrolls in a cave along the west bank of the Dead Sea, that supposedly explained the true nature of how Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And if was true, could be used to resurrect anyone back from the afterlife.

And there was not a mark on the child to indicate anything of such occurred. He looked perfectly healthy.

"Do you think me mad now, gentleman?" Lazarus said, placing a gentle hand on his son's head. "And he remembers very little of the event or the kidnapping before, but what he does remember, he accepts. I told you it could be done, but you failed to believe in your leader. And now you wish to remove me from office?"

McDermott, Thibeau and Erich all looked at each other dumbfounded.

"You have spies here, Lazarus?" Von Strauss said.

It was then a young man in dark clothes and dark hair with a sleeveless shirt with several tattoos on his left and right upper arms emerged, hiding from behind a support pillar in the audience hall. He had been listening to their conversion. "Not necessarily spies, gentleman," he said. "But the walls do have eyes and ears, especially in a place like this…"

"Say hello, Johnny," Lazarus then said to the three gentleman.

"Hello," the boy said plainly. "Father, are these the bad men you spoke of?"

"Yes, son. They are very bad men."

"I don't like them. They should be punished for betraying you."

Again, the three members looked dumbfounded, and even shocked.

"Now wait a moment, Lazarus," McDermott spoke up. "We were only thinking of what was best for the branch. Your escapades to restore your son were thought delusional. Is this really your son? How was it done? My wife died last year from an illness. Will you show me this power to bring her back?"

The dark dressed man spoke, waving a hand and a finger. "Secrets, gentleman, are meant to be kept." He then ventured to stand next to Lazarus. "But what I can tell you is death is merely the beginning of a journey without end…and everything has a price."

Lazarus took off the head-chief and relieved a tattoo burned into his forehead contrast to his white hair. It was circular in design with triangular shapes and Latin script written within.

A second person then strode into the audience chambers from the outside corridor.

It was a younger looking man in his later teens. His hair was as black as night and he wore a sleeveless jacket and leather trousers that appeared one-size too small. The jacket fit the curves of his slim body with a zipper up the front and a low V-neck, exposing a portion of his stomach, and complementing it, he was wearing a pair of low-cut trousers that fit to show a good deal of his pelvic area in an exhibitory manner. He wore dark, leather straps around both his exposed, upper arms and wrists, locked in place with golden buckles, and another, but larger one around his neck, that looked like a standard dog collar, locked with another golden buckle. On his forehead was a tattoo like Lazarus's. In one black finger-nailed hand, and in black, leather, fingerless glove, was a black, bloodied and torn collar and crucifix.

And Erich Von Strauss gasped. "Spencer?"

"Hello, father," he said contemptuously. "I have finally embraced my inner-self, shedding off conservatism and social stigma. My eyes are opened and now I am one with my true Master. Thann tried to have me killed, so I did him in kind - when I was reawakened and was reborn." Spencer threw the bloodied collar down between them, then licked his lips. "He raped and murdered my sister during a ceremony for the Illuminati, and you favored him for it. Thann was always your favorite. You sent him after me… So I struck back. I bit into his neck, then bit off his instrument of damnation."

Erich's mouth went agape. "Oh…my…lord!" he said, stammering in utter shock. "Thann…is…dead?"

"A fitting end for one such as he and the atrocities he committed as the Illuminati's envoy." Spencer reached into a pocket and brought out a worn, folded photograph. The same one that had condemned him. "My epitaph was written when I chose to defy the will of the Illuminati, but now I have been reborn." He threw the photograph to the floor with the bloodied collar and crucifix.

"The inner-hate you showed me when you ripped apart your brother in contempt and revenge is more valuable to me than he would ever have been to be as a loyal dog with free-will," the man in black said. Spencer gave him a sideways glance and a nod, accepting his new status at his side.

His father looked at him in utter shock. "You were always the good son. I regretted what happened to your sister. But there was nothing I could have done. Lazarus demanded her! He said it would strengthen the covenant between me and the Illuminati if I sacrificed her…"

Erich Von Strauss dropped to his knees and began to whimper, covering his face with his hands. It was a side no one had ever thought to see. He was always thought to be stone-faced, an unforgiving man, with no loyalty to but his own ambition in life. Perhaps the idea of losing both his sons, and now all his children, caused him to have a mental breakdown.

But Spencer had no sympathy for him, not in his new state of being, not after everything his father had done to him over the years; the mental abuse and showing of nepotism to his brother Thann for his entire life.

"Those are demonic covenants!" Thibeau shouted, pointing at Spencer's and Lazarus's heads. "And the boy probably has one somewhere on his body, too!"

Lazarus lifted up Johnny's hair and exhibited the same covenant mark shared by himself and Spencer.

"Correct, Brother Thibeau. My name is Decco. And I am building an army. These three have been reborn and I am their master. You either join them or die." Decco expressed a short laugh. "But when I mean die, your soul will be devoured and you will swim within me for all eternality. Make your choice."

"You poisoned my son, you bastard!" Erich Von Strauss cursed, staring with hate into Decco's eyes. He raised his right hand. On one finger was a non-descriptive ring and with a twitch of a finger, it fired! It stuck Decco in the forehead, the impact dropping him down.

"Master!" Spencer screamed.

"My son isn't the only inventive one! If it wasn't for you, he could have marketed that vehicle he and his friends had crafted! You stole him from me! I did it for you, son."

Spencer growled at his father.

Decco lain on the floor, but it wasn't long before a muffled chuckling began, and he rose straight up, levitating like a god to his feet. He spit out the small piece of lead with a small ounce of purple blood. "It would appear that your father has made his choice, Spencer," Decco said with some amusement. "I give him to you as a gift. Do with him what you wish. Have fun."

Spencer grinned innately as he looked at his father.

Erich Von Strauss's screams echoed the audience hall as his son murdered him with brutality and pent-up hate and malice, blood and bodily tissue spewing everywhere. Now that he was a demon, he had powers and abilities he could not even imagine and he was not afraid to test out each and every one of them…

Meanwhile, Decco and Lazarus focused on McDermott and Thibeau who were now on their knees begging for their lives.

"What shall we do with them, Master?" Lazarus said. "They appear to wish to live."

"And so they shall, but I need a little muscle in our motley crew," Decco said. "Separately they poise no threat, but as one they shall be menacing indeed…"

"What do you mean Lazarus has already succeeded in resurrecting his son?" Lukas demanded, when Grell told them, no longer needing Sebastian's power to do so. "How do you know this?"

"He had help from another demon who came through the gateway secretly with Sebastian two and half years ago," the Reaper explained. "He stayed reserved until now. I don't know if Sebastian even knows… but he has made a covenant with Wilhelm Lazarus. He is also building an army of possessed souls."

Salem put a hand to his chin. "This is distressing," he said. "It appears things have changed and quite drastically, I may add. The Reaperdum didn't see this coming. This demon hid himself well."

"Knowing Lazarus, he must have agreed to this demon's coy if it meant returning his son to the living," Renfrew said. "This means he has betrayed me!"

"Did you have any doubt?" Ciel said snidely. "Men like him always betray others for their selfish means."

"But does this mean…our parents will not…" Lukas started.

"I have been meaning to mention," Salem said, "you could not resurrect your parents, anyway. The bodies of your parents were burned to ash in the fire that took their mansion. You need a body to re-introduce a soul back into it. Lazarus kept his son's body and this is how the demon was able to resurrect him."

Lukas averted his gaze from Ciel who eyed him contemptuously. Ciel had forgiven him for setting fire to their parents' mansion under Bryon Kelvin's influence. But there may have been a chance to bring them back to life with Lazarus's secret. Now it was gone. And Lukas was to blame.

"What of the secret scrolls?" Renfrew asked.

"They were pyrite - fools treasure. Words only," Grell said. "This is why Lazarus probably made a deal with the demon when invited. It was the only way to bring his son back from the dead."

"But I imagine it cost him dearly," Salem added.

Ciel let out a deep sigh. "What is our next move?" he said.

"Our next move, my lord?" Salem answered.

"Our main objective still remains regardless of this third party threat. Lazarus and his demon can wait. How do we restore Sebastian back to us? If this demon and his army come for us, for whatever reason, we will need protection." Ciel looked directly at Renfrew. "Undo what you have done to Sebastian ghost. Now!"

Renfrew shook his head. "It can not be undone. Only when the cycle of his memories have ended."

"And when will this be?"

"When he made the covenant with you."

"How old is Sebastian?"

"I don't know. But he is only half way into his life-time memories."

"You think too linear, Renfrew," Salem said. "Time itself is one-way, but memories can be sped up and chosen at random. Time is superfluous, but a person only necessarily remembers a fraction of a memory and can jump to it when thought of." He looked at Ciel and Lukas. "Would you like to see what Sebastian is experiencing and thinking about at this moment?"

Ciel and Lukas looked at the other, their eyes widened with involuntary enthusiasm.

"Indeed," they both said in unison.

But before they would indulge in this, a loud revving, mechanical noise was heard from outside. Ciel went to the window and saw an unusual site, describing such to the others. There was a low two-seater, long nose vehicle of sorts pulling up the winding roadway to the mansion…

And First-Inspector Frederick Abberline of Scotland Yard and one other person were seated inside.

To be continued...