CHAPTER 35 - "BRINGING THINGS BACK TO NORMAL"
"Johnny Lazarus? But you're suppose to be dead?!" Inspector Abberline reiterated with an equal aghast of shock of his first utterance. "It was in all the newspapers - your father announced your death three years ago! He said he found your body in a ditch and blamed the 'Child Kidnapper of London'."
"It is safe to say, Inspector, that this is not the case any longer," Sebastian said obviously.
"A lie to hide the real truth." Johnny eyed Ciel. "Isn't that right, Ciel Phantomhive?"
Ciel frowned in a narrowed look of remebrance. "You were one of the other children in the amphitheatre," he admitted, "set to be sacrificed like me by the Inner Circle."
"But you demon butler saved them the privilege, isn't that right? He slaughtered the Inner Circle members and the remaining children on your order. You made a covenant with the demon, but you needed to be completely quiet about it, so you left no witnesses."
"Shut-up!"
"Does the truth hurt, Ciel Phantomhive? You ordered my and dozens of other children to slaughter, all so you could escape uncontested and quieted, so later you could evoke a revenge on others associated with your parent's murder."
"I said, shut-up!"
Lukas's face was aghast with disbelief and shock. "Brother, tell me what he's saying isn't true?"
Ciel's face turned cold. "Things had to be done. Plans made. Sacrifices given. Sebastian devoured all but a few of their souls, but killed the rest. He said he would not be greedy. Once I was well enough, we then set upon to give rebirth to the Phantomhive name and I vowed to kill all those who did me wrong with Sebastian's help. Back then, I thought there were only a few to kill. Now, I learn there are so many more to hunt and punish."
"You're a monster!" Lukas said disheartened. "All those innocent children slaughtered on your say. Our parents must be crying. I have no sympathy for you anymore!"
"I don't need or want your sympathy, Lukas. Revenge is all that I want!"
Johnny Lazarus seemed to smile at the discord he was creating.
"Enough!" Sebastian demanded. Ciel and Lukas looked at him like a father scolding his children. Sebastian then pointed an accusatory finger at Johnny Lazarus. "You will stop spewing discord and you will tell your master, that if he wants to settle our score, then he will have to come here and fight me. Otherwise, you can tell him he is a coward. And you are but a hollow shell with his energy inside you boy."
"Oh, but I am so much more. The soul of Johnny Lazarus is gone, but his body still has its uses, and my father, Decco, is a very intelligent demon. Why stroll into an hornet's nest to be stung if you can smoke your enemy out by the rot and ruin of that of their past? I am merely telling the truth."
"The whole story is much less dramatic," Sebastian replied. "You tell the story as you think you saw it."
"I was there, or rather Johnny Lazarus was, and I have all his memories. His soul has passed on, but his brain, his body - everything still remains. Wilhelm Lazarus preserved his son's body very well. He studied the ancient Egyptian culture and learned how to mummify a person's body so it would not decay. So in state, in a secret room beneath his manor, the body of Johnny lain on an alter, perfectly preserved. Wilhelm thought he could resurrect his son with a few choice words from scrolls be found in a cave, but he was wrong, so he offered himself to Decco in payment for his son to rise again. Decco repaired the slaughtered body of Johnny and gave me life with his own dark energy. I am a part of Decco, but I am also my own person with thoughts and feelings of my own accord. And I asked to come to face you here. My mission is to disorientate your group for my father's coming, but I never expected you, Sebastian, to awaken this early."
"Always expect the unexpected," Ciel said.
"Indeed, but even some things can not be prepared for. And I am a mere child, although not a weak one."
"But you are a minion of our enemy."
"The word: enemy, Ciel Phantomhive, is such a relative term. My father is merely attempting to bring order from chaos. An enemy is titled by those who can not seen the brilliance of what others are doing to improve things, that interrupt their comfortable way of life. But everyone needs order. Once my father destroys you all, he will then begin a war in Hell and dethrone the ultimate King of Demons. And I will stand at his side - son of the King! Hell will be orderly once more, with an army at my father's very command, and anyone who defies his will - will be annihilated!"
"You will do no such thing," Sebastian growled.
"Because you are one of the comfortable ones."
"No, the reason being Morning Star is not stupid. He only takes what is necessary to survive. He is not foolish to start another war. And if Decco does this, does he not realized Hell's forces will be exceptionally weakened? What if the Redeemer decides to take advantage of it?"
"You mean God? God would not attack Hell just to cement his hold on the spirit realm. He is not like that."
"The Redeemer can be very wrathful and vengeful when He wishes to be. And who else, when an opportunity is seen, would not wipe out His enemy in a final push - much like what was almost happened in the great Holy War countless eons ago. God had an opportunity to do so when Morning Star was thrust down into the very fiery pits of Hell, but didn't. I wonder if He wished he had finished Morning Star off then? God wasted his opportunity then, but would He waste it now?"
Johnny eyed him skeptically. "Decco, my father, has thought of all this, I think? He would not gather an army if he knew those would be the consequences of his efforts. But perhaps he shall tell you himself." And Johnny raised his arms apart and high. "He has been watching this whole time. Now it is time to show you his true power. Father, your son beckon's you. Come forth and destroy your enemies with wrath and discontent! Then the war in Hell can begin!"
Everyone readied themselves for an attack. The party of Reapers, Kelvin and Sebastian looked readily in every direction for Decco's arrival or a hint of it, but after several long moments, nothing happened.
Johnny looked around confused. "I don't understand. Father!" He called out again. "Come forth and destroy your enemies with your wrath and discontent!"
Again, no response, and nothing to indicate even Johnny's message was heard. Or maybe he had been heard, and what had been said by Sebastian caused a sudden change in Decco's plans? Perhaps Decco had not thought of the retribution of his planned civil war - and now Johnny was left on his own.
Ciel laughed, his arms folded across his chest. "Your coward of a father has abandoned you," he said. "Did you really think he would attend here to fight everyone present knowing the slim odds of victory? And obviously neither of you truly understand biblical lore."
"What do you mean?" Johnny said.
"And thinketh thou this, O man that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Romans: Chapter 2, Verse 3.
"(And) the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censor and put fore therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Leviticus: Chapter 10, Verse 1 and 2.
"O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this laid up in store with Me, and sealed up among My treasures? To Me belongeth vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. Deuteronemy, Chapter 32, Verse 29, 31 to 35.
"I believe I have made my point clear," Ceil said straightly. "God is not as nice as you believe. I also believe He would attack a weakened Hell if the opportunity arose and then balance in the human world will be off-balance. There are many examples in the bible of that exhibit God's wrath on others who mock him. I believe I know of at least…a hundred more."
"Master," Sebastian said agasped. "I am truly astonished." Ciel eyed him; then Sebastian smirked. "But it should not surprise me - a person of your fortitude and in your position to wish salvation."
"Believe what you wish, the Bible is merely an educational tool," Ciel said simply, turning his gaze away.
"In the Von Strauss Manor, where we spoke, Decco mentioned you were 'nothing' to him, and it would appear that this is true," William said to Johnny. "He has great intelligence, most likely stemmed from many years of experience. He knows the odds and he doesn't see victory, so he sent you as a last ploy to gather information, to see if attacking would be prudent. He knows now it would not be in his best interest."
Johnny's eyes widened with shock. "Than that would mean -"
"He has abandoned you," Ciel repeated with sinister delight.
"No, you lie! Father would never abandon me! A father would never betray or abandon his son!"
"I used to believe that, and to some parents that does not carry," Lukas said. "But I once called a man Father, wrongly. Once my usefulness was at an end, he discarded me like simple trash and tried to kill me. Decco doesn't care about you. He used you, like all hardhearted beings do. You obviously are no more use to him. So he has decided to rid himself of all cumbersome and burdensome things."
"That's not true! Why would be birth me if he only wished to discard me?"
"Sometimes that is a question that does not have an answer," Lukas said philosophically.
"So, there won't be a fight here? Decco's not coming?" Mathu Kelvin snorted annoyed. "Rather disappointing if you ask me. I was looking forward to facing this Decco, or at least, seeing two great Titans square off." He smirked at Sebastian.
Sebastian didn't smile back. "He's a coward, plain and simple. He has never confronted me without allies at his side. He's always hiding behind others."
"What about the army he has to wage a civil war in Hell?" Knox said. "He's still a threat in that regard."
"He wouldn't dare now, not that now he knows Morning Star has been preparing for it for centuries."
"Then what is left for him?"
"He'll still come, but at a time of his choosing," Sebastian said. "I know he will. When he thinks I am off guard. Like cowards always do, he'll attack me from behind. But I am prepared for that." Sebastian went to Johnny Lazarus and hauled him off the ground by his shirt with a clench fist tightly in his shirt, brining him to eye level. The boy looked at him terrified, Sebastian's eyes glowering crimson. "My dreaming has exhausted me. I am hungry and it is time to feast on some dark energy to regenerate my loss."
"No!" Ciel interceded by stepping between them and putting a hand a few inches in front of Sebastian's demonic ravenous looking face. His covenant eye glowered with an intensity. "You have a covenant with me! I order you to put him down now! It is my soul you desire, not this hollow darkness inside Johnny Lazarus!"
Sebastian looked down and growled, hissed and bar his fangs at Ciel like some ravenous wild animal filled with a carnal instinct. Indeed, Sebastian had made a covenant with Ciel because he knew he could cultivate a delicious soul filled with a delectable darkness amplified with pain, sorrow and betrayal. The dark energy inside Johnny Lazarus had none of that.
Ciel's eye suddenly flashed with an incandescent light from an intense emotional glare, and Sebastian immediately dropped Johnny and backed away several steps.
Johnny dropped hard, but then winked out obviously feeling threatened.
Sebastian held his face in his hands, dropping to his knees in front of Ciel. But through caged fingers over his eyes, he eyed Ciel with a crimson glare between two, white gloved fingers.
Ciel stood firm and gave him a hardened stare like an arrow hitting its mark. Ciel's covenant shined and glowered with such brilliance and with such power that it was like Sebastian was looking into the face of -
Something shifted within Ciel's eye - a part of the covenant moved, changed - but Ciel appeared not notice it or feel it, but Sebastian did see it and felt the change. The Latin script of one phrase changed; he had designed the covenant according to his intent, to one day take Ciel Phantomhive's soul. But then why had a portion of it realigned itself elsewhere without him commanding it now? It was not yet time to devour Ciel Phantomhive's soul. It had not been cultivated enough!
"You are my butler, my servant," Ciel said, "and you will obey my orders."
Quickly something happened that Sebastian didn't expect. All the pain he felt, all the hunger his belly craved, all the anger that filled his very being. suddenly vanished, and he found himself kneeing before Ciel Phantomhive, his human master. Whatever the reason for the change in the original Latin script of the covenant inside Ciel Phantomhive's eye he had had designed, something inside Ciel directed at Sebastian willed the change, and how it happened, and why it happened, confused Sebastian. But it gave him the peace he sought after his disturbing dreamt memories. It was a change that did not affect the core of the covenant, but the change did affect him. And he felt an overwhelming calmness and resolve inside him now.
His focus had returned.
He breathed out a sense of relief. Something about their bond and the covenant in Ciel's eye had rejuvenated him instantly and it took away all the sadness, the hardship, the anger, and the hatred of the life he had lead in his past, dissipating it like a puff of smoke.
He couldn't explain it other than a godly force had washed away his feelings and gave him clarity once more. He felt calm and collected, like he had before Renfrew Phantomhive had rendered him unconscious, that caused him to enter a dream state and replay his life experiences.
"Forgive me, my lord; I honestly do not know what came over me," he said.
The glower inside Ciel's eye settled. The covenant was still visible, but did not continue to glow. Ciel leaned over and came face-to-face with Sebastian. "You will always be mine exclusively - until the end," he said closely and quietly to Sebastian for only he could here. "And don't you forget that, Sebastian."
Sebastian smiled a thin grin and put his left arm across his chest and bowed shortly. "Of course, my lord," he said just as quietly for only Ciel'sears. "Until the end."
Sebastian stood up, stood courtly next to Ciel. "Everything is fine now, gentleman," he said to all. "I have returned to my old, collected, charming self."
"Indeed," Ciel said, rolling his eyes sardonically.
All of a sudden, Lukas stepped to Ciel and slapped him across the face with the same intensity Ciel had slapped him only minutes before, even if Ciel's intention was admirable to jog Lukas's memory of Sebastian's possible place of origin during what William called a "mind rub", accomplishing it.
Sebastian gasped shocked.
Ciel's eyes widened with absolute incredulity and anger. "Lukas, how dare you!" he said, putting a hand to his right cheek. "What in the world was that for?"
"Six months ago you delivered a punishment to me by slapping me across the face for my role in the fire that burned down the original Phantomhive mansion," Lukas explained. "As I've said in the past, I was under Bryon Kelvin's influence, but I accepted the punishment with grace and dignity. I am now returning it for what you did in the amphitheatre that give you purchase to escape unmolested. I consider us even now."
They both looked at the other with a silent stare for a few long moments.
Ciel rubbed his cheek and then laughed. "Touché, Lukas, touché. We both acted in self-preservation of our own regard, however horrid each outcome resulted. I am sorry for what I said to you earlier. We need to stick together in our greatest time of need, arguing between us will solve nothing."
Lukas smiled. "Agreed. And I too apologize." And they shook hands.
"So, now that that is settled," Mathu Kelvin began, "what do we do about Belial, Sebastian's master?"
"I am Sebastian's master," Ciel spoke up. "And a butler can only have - "
"Two masters," Lukas interrupted, smiling.
"Indeed," Sebastian agreed, albeit only because they were brothers. But he only had a contract/covenant with Ciel. "Master Belial will have wait for now, but I will keep this gem for safekeeping." He held up the piece of the Hope Diamond he snatched from Mathu Kelvin's grasp that would supposedly help open the door to the void and free Belial, erstwhile sacrificing both Ciel and Lukas. He was not ready to do that yet.
Renfrew Phantomhive sighed and frowned, and Knox noticed. "What's the matter, little guy?" Knox asked.
All turned to him. "All ends well and happy for others, but not for me," Renfrew said sorrowfully.
"What do you mean? We've won! Haven't we?"
"He means, Mr. Knox, that despite the situation ending peacefully, for now, his soul still can not rest," William said. "Even with Decco's power that restored others…his soul has been blacklisted. He did an unthinkable thing, and in the eyes of God, it is unforgivable due to its selfish nature."
"What did you do?" Knox asked.
"I…killed myself, I shot myself. But it was by accident, the gun went off when the trigger was depressed." Renfrew sighed. "And I have been paying for it for a very long time, remaining a wandering ghost."
"Why in Reaperdum did you do that?"
"Because my father was a…" he said quickly but stopped short of cursing in front of company. "He used to hit me on an almost daily bases. He was a heavy drinker. So I found his gun and pretended I was going to shoot myself if he didn't treat me better. But it went off, and I…" It had masked it before, but now Renfrew showed a massive hole in his upper chest. He made it clearly visible despite his own translucent blue ghostly hue. Then masked it again. "Then I thought when I discovered a way to repent for my sin by making a deal with Wilhelm Lazarus to render Sebastian unconscious so he could take his revenge on him for murdering Johnny in the amphitheatre three years ago, God might recede the blacklist. But Wilhelm Lazarus with Decco betrayed me."
"And you thought that if you righted a wrong, that God would reward you and you would earn repentance?"
Renfrew nodded. "Johnny Lazarus was kidnapped by the Child Kidnapper of London's henchmen and then given to the members of the Inner Circle for sacrifice to summon a demon. That demon slaughtered those evil men, but then also murdered all those innocent children including an alive Johnny Lazarus. Notwithstanding, I was not privy to these events, I was only told about them by Wilhelm Lazarus."
"But I was, in a way," Mathu Kelvin said. "Even I was sickened by the brutal massacre of all those children as I witnessed it, pretending to be dead - at the time possessing the body of my host who had attended the ceremonial sacrifice - with Ciel Phantomhive laying on an alter about to be the next in line. I didn't see much, but I with others, felt sudden gusts of chilled winds and heard horrid adolescent screams within the darkened amphitheatre." He looked away, ashamed of his cowardice at the time. "They haunt me still."
"Self-preservation," Ciel said. "It all falls back to self-preservation."
"Yes, but in Renfrew Phantomhive's case, there is nothing that can be done," William said. "We Reapers are forbidden to intercede in God's judgment. Only God can lift the blacklisting."
Lukas stepped forward confused. "What do you mean by blacklist? Do you mean, that some souls can never rest if they conduct themselves in an unjustifiable manner or do something within their lifetime that goes against the very nature of God's will? That is unfair in Renny's case."
William was about to say something, but Knox said instead, "In special circumstances, Reapers can grant what are called 'Renewals' - which means, to give a person back his life that has been taken away incorrectly by a Reaper or another spiritual being."
"But this is not the case," William corrected. "And permission for such must come from a higher power. Decco restored Thann Von Strauss's life and did the same to his younger brother Spencer when we were all together at the Von Strauss manor, but he is a demon and we can not control his actions."
"Wait," Ciel said. "How do Thann and Spencer Von Strauss come into play with events?"
"Renfrew Phantomhive can stay with us in the mansion," Sebastian said, ignoring the Von Strauss issue at the moment. "He is welcome to stay with us for as long as he wishes."
Ciel opened his mouth to protest, but then a thin smile directed at him from Sebastian changed his mind. It was a quiet show, as if a father was telling his son that there will be no questioning of his rule. "Yes, he can stay," he conceded, averting his eyes, "especially after all the help he has provided over the previous day."
"Well then," Sebastian said in his usual good-humored self, and clapped his hands, "we should all return to the mansion. It is late and young masters should be in bed."
"Don't patronize us, Sebastian," Ciel said, but then his stomach grumbled. As if on cue, Lukas's followed.
Sebastian gasped. "My word, when was the last time you two have eaten?"
"We've been kind of busy, Sebastian, and food has been the last thing on our minds," Lukas said.
"Nonsense," Sebastian said with concern. "You can't skip meals or you'll never grow. Once we return to the mansion, I shall prepare a feast for everyone and you shall all eat like kings."
The Dining Hall table was set and the food quickly cooked with Sebastian's own blend of preparation. Once the food began to arrive, it didn't take long before etiquette fell by the wayside to hunger. And Sebastian chuckled softly to himself as both Ciel and Lukas, minus proper edict in front of the staff, ate like "little demons" with the servants and Abberline. Sometimes, boys will be boys - especially hungry boys.
All ate except Tanaka, who had decided to turn in for the evening feeling exceptionally tired, eating nothing. Later on, knowing sometimes, the old man liked to wake up in the middle of the night and read because it was often the only time he had any time to himself. Sebastian decided that would be the perfect time to bring him something proper. Even the elderly needed to keep up their strength, and in Tanaka's case, his continued lack of vitality lately, food was very important.
He left the diners to their own devises and joined others in an adjacent hallway, closing the door behind him. Here, all four Reapers awaited him, including Mathu Kelvin and Renfrew Phantomhive, who didn't need or no longer required food nourishment. And here he had a message for them all: "Your assistance is no longer required, gentleman," he said, to all but Renfrew Phantomhive whom he had welcomed the boy ghost to reside in the mansion for as long as he wished. "I can safeguard the young masters now."
"But what about Decco?" Knox said.
"And there is still the issue about Belial," Kelvin said with importance. "Morning Star will not be pleased that you chose your master's well-being over one of his major generals and your mentor."
"As I have told you, I will make the decision about my master as I now hold all the pieces to his release," Sebastian said firmly to Kelvin. "Another way will be found, and I will find it. The covenant I have with my master must stand. Please tell Morning Star this with my utmost heartfelt apologizes. But also tell him, I have never stopped searching for Master Belial, even in the last 200 years. He was my mentor and trainer, and through my travels, I have gone to many of the places visited when I first became to train, including the mysterious cliff dwellings of the Anaasází. I often returned here to be alone and reflect, and after the death of Kassy, this is where I spent most of my time, thinking and growing stronger. After a time, however, I returned to reasserting my demon side and began to feed. But after a while, the tediousness bored me once more."
"I believe I understand," William said. "And you came through the gateway that the Inner Circle opened and made a covenant with Ciel Phantomhive to once again root yourself within humanity."
"Another demon came through the gateway with me. Decco thought I hadn't noticed him, but his dark energy is undeniable to me, but he quickly vanished having no wish to stay. I ignored him for a time and focused on Ciel Phantomhive, becoming his butler, for which I knew nothing about. Ciel often chastised me because I nothing about how to be a proper butler, but he taught me and I picked things up quickly and now I am a master of my trade."
"But there's more, isn't there, Sebastian? Or shall I call you Damascus?" Kelvin said.
"Sebastian is the name my new master has given me, so continue to use it. And what do you mean?"
"I don't believe your making a covenant with Ciel Phantomhive is mere coincidence. You and the Phantomhive's have interacted before; I witnessed such in your dreams. Miles and Mary, and their son, Tristan Phantomhive, were very good friends of the Smythe family, for which you married into. And so, I pose the question. Were you merely drawn by your wish to root yourself with humanity once more as you have in the past, knowing your liking of them, and you having been human once before, or was there some other reason that gave your purchase towards an encounter with the seemingly last surviving Phantomhive member at the time?"
Sebastian chuckled to himself. "You are reaching for something not there, Mathu Kelvin."
"Really? Ciel Phantomhive doesn't believe in coincidences and neither do I."
"What are you saying?" Knox jumped in. "That Sebastian becoming the Phantomhive butler was earmarked to happen?"
"A demon does have the power to travel through time barriers like Reapers," Kelvin revealed. "They can not fort what has already happened, but they can see the future and possibly alter it."
"Are you saying he arranged or chose this to happen - to chain himself to the human world with Ciel Phantomhive?" Knox said. "Why would any anyone - even a demon - do such a thing?"
Mathu Kelvin smiled with some assurance. "Even if he doesn't want to admit such, he was very much draw to Ciel because of Sebastian's relationship with the Phantomhive's in the past, and I believe he feels a kinship with them. So, I believe, he is here under the pretense of the covenant, to protect Ciel Phantomhive, whom he saw was being threatened and picked to die. Now also Lukas Phantomhive. He took it upon himself to fall into the role of 'savior.' Psychologically speaking, he also, undeniably, inserted yourself into a fatherly role, something all parents wish to rekindle when they lose a part of their life that was cut short due to a threat from another. Perhaps Decco? We were never told us what happened to your son's. It's obvious that your wife died. She was human, after all. Please let me know if I have misinterpreted things?"
Sebastian chuckled once more. "You have indeed, Mr. Kelvin. You are still very much reaching. You are attempting to insert an idea into place that does only to serve a false assumption. You are mistaken, but believe what you will. It makes no difference to me or the truth - coincidence, nothing more."
"I am not prone to speculation, but I believe the facts are coming to light," William said. "All the pieces are still not here yet, but hear me out. All this is surmised based on the fact with logical deductive reasoning."
William began. "As it was told to me by another who witnessed it, a Reaper, this mysterious demon that helped Lukas in years past, two years prior in fact, when he was dying of cold on a winter's night on the streets of London, after a mission - this demon was indeed, in some fashion, familiar with Lukas Phantomhive in the past, and also connected with Renfrew Phantomhive in some manner, as well."
Renfrew nodded, but allowed William to continue without saying a word.
"At this time, and after Lukas Phantomhive's sudden and miraculous recovery, he was given knowledge of Belial, but then this knowledge was subsequentially erased from Lukas's memory along with his encounter with this demon and Renfrew Phantomhive. It was done so to protect Lukas from an attack by Decco. If the demon ever found out, the boy would be in danger.
"Renfrew secretly stays with Lukas to protect him and this information from being exposed under the guise of a vow from a previous encounter with Lukas Phantomhive, who did indeed help 'rescue' Renfrew from a captor who had 'ensnared', or had believed so, with an albeit weak knowledge of spiritual spells. An amateur, just starting out practicing with dark magic, but this is now what Renfrew told Lukas at the time.
"I also surmise that Renfrew, on that night Lukas was saved, was still with his 'captor' and brought forth unknown events to draw Lukas to him, so they could eventually meet legitimately. Although, once Renfrew's 'captor' was dead, for which Lukas killed him with his skills as an assassin and killer at the time, Renfrew erased Lukas's memory of him and then inserted himself as a shadowy protector from afar."
Renfrew nodded again and smiled, as if glad that the truth was finally coming out.
"Thus when Sebastian attempted to learn this information within Lukas's mind aiding the boy in the recovery of old forgotten memories, Renfrew then put Sebastian to sleep as punishment - to dream of his own past, as a method to learn some humility and respect in not to pry into the lives of others. But unbeknownst to all, Sebastian's true history began to unfold intricately, for which we still do not know and may never know the full story. There is still much, but I believe the facts are accurate as far as Renfrew Phantomhive is considered.
"I believe there is merit to Mathu Kelvin's theory, albeit filled with conjecture and mere speculation. And Renfrew Phantomhive is only one piece of the overall puzzle. A second piece, may also fit. Could that demon that night have been you, Sebastian Michaelis? It fits the timeframe of when you emerged from the gateway. While Ciel slept, you could have easily slipped away…"
Sebastian folded his arms across his chest, not out of annoyance but out of intrigue. "My word, you Reapers do have a vivid imagination. However, I had no knowledge of Lukas Phantomhive at the time, so your theory crumbles. You all seem to think that I set events into motion, allocating pieces like on a chest board, moving them precisely where I wanted them to go to come to this point? That is absurd. No one is that clever and can think that far ahead - not even I."
Renfrew shook his head. "That demon that helped Lukas looked nothing like Sebastian anyway. He was also a lot younger looking almost like a teenager and he wore spectacles and a black suit."
"Spectacles and a black suit?" William questioned.
"Yes, much like you and Knox," Renfrew confirmed. "And if I recall, when he was leaving, another demon appeared next to him. They looked uncannily alike."
"Are you sure they were demons?" William inquired. "And not Reapers?"
"You have already stated a number of times that Reapers can not get involved in human affairs. Dying of cold is a human affair. So they could not have been Reapers if Lukas Phantomhive was saved by one of them."
"Indeed." William nodded. He adjusted his speculates. "This is troublesome. Demons dressing like Reapers is problematic. I must open a file on this when we return to Reapderdum."
"I wonder what ever happened to the Thann and Spencer Von Strauss?" Knox said, changing the subject. "I sent them into the Phantomhive mansion to be safe when I brought them here when we escaped from Decco, but they're no where to be found now. I wonder if they left?"
"Leave them to their own devices, Reaper Knox," William said in his orderly manner. "Our policy is clear. They were restored back to life by Decco. Their lives are theirs to do as they wish now."
Knox agreed. "But that still doesn't make me any less curious," he said.
"We have an equally important dilemma here now," Grell Sutcliffe said, inserting himself into the conversion. The others all looked at him. "What do we do with everyone who have witnessed events here?"
William nodded. "Agreed. Humans can not be privy to such things," he said.
"The servants will be no bother, I will erase their memories with a touch as they sleep - although I will not erase my master's minds," Sebastian said, glancing down at Renfrew Phantomhive. "They know how to keep a secret."
Renfrew smiled.
"The real problem will be the detective," Salem put in.
"I will take care of him as well," Sebastian replied.
"Don't kill him, all right?" Knox pleaded. "We don't need any unnecessary bloodshed."
Sebastian smirked. "I assure you, Mr. Knox, that I would not harm someone Master Ciel likes."
To be continued…