CHAPTER 13 - "THE FALLEN"

With a hairline scar running vertical across his left eye caused by explosive debris from the attack on the mansion one week ago, Lukas retrieved medical attention for it. But the gash was deep enough that it would take some time to heal. In the meantime, he actually felt it as his own "eye patch" much like his brother Ciel who had the sight in his right eye taken after being tortured by a group called the Inner Circle, and who supposedly murdered his parents and wanted to shame the Phantomhive name for reasons unknown.

Not everything was clear why the Inner Circle turned on Vincent Phantomhive, who was once a member, but it may have had something to do with the birth of a new power sect to rival the Inner Circle, called: "the Aristocrats of Justice", as least as far as Tanaka had said. The Inner Circle wanted to create disorder and chaos in England for a personal agenda, Vincent's new sect wanted to keep order. But as the Phantomhive's were lords of the underworld, Luksa thought "the Aristocrats of Evil" was a more suitable name for them.

Perhaps it was, and Tanaka was just protecting him from the truth, that his father - Vincent Phantomhive, despite working for the Queen as her loyal guard dog - was in fact, himself, a criminal with his own agenda. Regardless of the truth, it was good to be a part of his real family again. He vowed Bryon Kelvin, if still alive, would pay for the years he took Lukas away from his family.

After the attack on the mansion, Ciel revealed to him much about his family history, his parents, and a great deal of other things. Lukas was very intrigued that in such a short time, after his ordeal with the Inner Circle, Ciel had managed to crawl out of the depths of Hell and to stand tall on his own self-made pedestal, to run Fantom Co. their father's company, and again rebuild and maintain the Phantomhive name as a pillar of respectability in England.

And now he - no longer Leic, but Lukas Phantomhive, fraternal twin to Ciel Phantomhive - would be a part of their family's rich history, in not only social circles but also lords of the underworld. Although this amused Lukas, he accepted what he would have to undertake now that he was back in the family. Ciel had even commissioned an artist to paint a family portrait with Lukas included, as none had been painted before, because Lukas had been too sick for one to be done; his face disfigured by an unknown disease.

Ciel and Lukas would be the new face of the Phantomhive family name, scarred as they were. But much like his brother, he would embrace his battlescars much like a tribesman would in Africa, accepting a tattoo after a trail to show his elevation in society and courage in the fear of danger. It showed strength and respect, that you fought against the world and won. Lukas knew the scar across his eye probably wouldn't be the last scar he'd receive because the men who attacked the mansion were still out there, but he and his brother would face the world together, and they would conquer all who defied attack the Phantomhive's.

Lukas entered Ciel's office after sitting for what felt like hours on a stool in the Sitting Room, and very still for the artist to paint his image to the canvas next to his brother's, who had sat in the same manner only hours before. The artist felt it better to paint the portrait in parts, rendering each separately but together into a single image on canvas.

Ciel was seated behind his desk working on some papers. When Lukas entered. He was a busy "man", as the head of the Phantomhive family businesses, and oversaw all financial matters and ventures, with Sebastian's help. Tanaka, despite in his late seventies ,was the public face of Fantom Co. respectfully because of Ciel's age. When he reached a certain age, then he could run his family's companies solely. But now an older face would be more accepted for business than a child's.

Lukas sat down in a chair on the other side of the desk, and signed. "I never knew doing nothing for hours could be so exhausting," he said.

Ciel snorted amused slightly, but he did not look up from his work.

Sebastian entered soon afterwards with refreshments on a silver platter. He placed them on the desk in an empty area so not to disturb his master's work. Lukas knew Sebastian did most of the work, but Ciel had to sign off on it, and reading it all must have been tiresome in its own rite.

What Lukas learned over the past week was that Fantom Co. owned many toy factories in many parts of the British Commonwealth and also aboard, also having its hands in other ventures such as clothing, construction and the food industry, and was expanding into other areas.

Lukas found it all exciting and he wanted to be a part of the family business. But it had only been a week since his amnesia had apparently lifted, although not everything had been restored - he still felt certain memories may have been lost or buried - and Ciel felt it best that Sebastian first educate him on Phantomhive commerce before helping. And indeed that education from Sebastian was very helpful, and he started to understand Fantom Co. with much clarity. But he could understand his brother's somewhat reluctance to have Lukas dwell into the family business without further business education. He had ideas to help, and presented them to his brother, but it was up to him and Sebastian to see if they were viable.

"Thank you, Sebastian," Lukas said, taking a finger sized cucumber sandwich from the platter, eating it. "At first I could not get used to the rich food, but I believe my stomach it accepting it."

Sebastian smiled. "My pleasure," he said. "And the waste baskets thank-you as well."

Ciel handed Sebastian a handful of papers. "These are signed. They can be delivered to their respected proprietors." Not even smiling at the apparent joke Sebastian had just made.

"Very good, sir."

The butler accepted them. Lukas knew that Sebastian would have to put them into envelops, address them, and add the Phantomhive wax seal as prove that had come from Ciel Phantomhive. A return address was unnecessary as long as their was a seal to bind the back of the envelope. Many high families used this method and it also showed their status in society.

Lukas stood up. "Let me help."

This caught Ciel's attention. "Sebastian is quite capable of doing it himself. And on the same note, let the servants do their jobs, don't help any of them. I pay them to do their jobs. I've seen you in the gardens with Finny pruning the bushes, and with Mey-Rin helping with the bedding, and with Bardroy in the kitchen. You are a Phantomhive, you're my brother, act like it."

Lukas felt his face fold in as he try to hide a sneer. Why did his brother have such a self-righteous attitude? Just because he had lived with servants all his life to abide by his wishes day and night, didn't mean everyone had to. They had had this argument on more than one occasion in the past week. He may be a Phantomhive, but he had an inbred instinct to help others, much like his father - Vincent - from what he had been told by Tanaka. His father held many social dinner parties and sponsored charity associations to help the under privileged, and while he never got his hands dirty, he never put anyone down.

He was about to say something, when he saw Sebastian put up a hand. The man was more than a butler, and was often in the middle of these arguments, acting as a stopping block when things got too heated. This time, one look from him, shut Lukas up. Ciel was too self-absorbed anyway and Lukas felt it was worthless to waste energy on getting angry on an issue each of them had different view points on. And regardless, despite Lukas's view of non-servantitude - he always had to do things on his own - they were Ciel's servants, and it was not proper to argue in front of them. It would undermine the master's authority.

With the mental breathing exercises he had learned from somewhere, he took a few breaths, and quickly composed himself. He nodded. "Very well, brother. I'll allow the servants to do their respected jobs, but let me say this: we may be brothers, but we were brought up with very different values. Our father would agree with me on this: a man stands on his own two feet and asks for no-one's help. I may have been away for a few years, but I never remembered you as an arrogant, supercilious -

"Enough!" Ciel shouted, slamming his ink pen to the desk, snapping it in two. "Get out! I will not have this argument again!"

Sebastian had put his hand to his face in an expression of abashment, and Lukas saw this. Lukas had tried to calm himself, but apparently the issue was just too much of a hot topic.

And with that, Lukas turned around and stormed out of his brother's office having nothing more to say, slamming the door behind.

Grell Sutcliff was slightly amused.

As a Reaper, he had seen humans wage war against each other countless time and each time it entertained him.

Watching from the shadows in a darkened alcove in the secret amphitheatre of the Inner Circle, or what used to be their secret gathering place, he witnessed as one of their own turned his back on them and the rest were slaughtered with ruthless efficiency - murdered by rapid gun fire by twin assassins.

He knew who they were: Sasha and Samuel Ironstadt. Every Reaper knew who these twin killers were, and because of them lately, the Reapers had been working over time, cataloging dead souls and their cinematic records - what humans saw just before their death, playing back their entire life from birth to death.

But as for the other two, he didn't care who they were. Regardless of the events of humans, he was here for only one reason, to collect the dead's souls. He could mask himself from the human's sight and just waltz right down to the dead, catalog their deaths and return back to the Reaper Academy to file them away. But he had six files with him, and there were only five humans dead. There was one more to come.

He opened the sixth man's file and read it: George Stillwell. And today he died along with five other men. He was the crown attorney who betrayed his brethren, but the file didn't say how he dies. Only in an unexpected way.

Stillwell came to stand next to the smaller man, called Mathu, in the centre of the amphitheatre, looking down at his fallen brethren, rittled dead with bullets with blood filling the floor. He even stepped in one men's blood and made a shoe print. He lifted his leg and tried to wipe it off his shoe on the clothes of another dead man.

Grell hated betrayers.

The last betrayer he encountered was a woman named Angelina Duiless, known to many in high end social circles as Madame Red, because she wore red everywhere and her hair was the same. She had also been masquerading as London's most notorious serial killer: Jack the Reaper, whom Grell killed because she went soft; he helped her kill her targets, murdering prostitutes because they decided to have abortions at the flip of a hat because they were in the sex trade while she could no longer have children due to an accident that took both her husband and unborn child from her womb. So she killed those who took for granted the gift of life. Her nephew Ciel Phantomhive was going to expose her crimes. She was also jealous of him, being her sister's child. She loved his father, but Vincent Phantomhive chose her sister to court and marry instead.

Madame Red couldn't kill him, so Grell killed her. What did he care, he was a Reaper, he couldn't be punished. Or so he thought. Another Reaper stopped him and admonished him when he attempted to murder Ciel's butler Sebastian Michealis. Grell was put on probation and his specialized deathscythe was taken. Now he went around gathering souls to restore his prior status. How long that would take, he didn't know, but on occasion he met up with Sebastian Michealis (Bassie, as he called him) and his little pup master; this was not one of those times, but he waged that something about these murders did have a connection to them. In fact, this was the same amphitheatre where Ciel Phantomhive summoned his butler demon.

"How shall we dispose of the bodies?" Stillwell said.

Savannah, the woman gypsy, took a step forward. "You need not worry about that," she said, giving Mathu a look. They had both looked up at the woman from the centre floor, but apparently Mathu was the only one who noticed the woman's secret message behind her look, as Grell observed.

Stillwell said, "When do I get paid?"

Mathu gave Stillwell his undivided attention. He rubbed an inch on the side of his right temple with the barrel of his gun. "You're not."

"What? But you promised me $25,000 and I'd defend your uncle if it came to that for his crimes."

"My uncle is a sick man, but I care for him still. He doesn't need legal representation, what he needs is a psychotherapist. But thank you for leading us to the others; you services are no longer required. Besides, I lost your $25,000 in horse race this afternoon. Lady Luck just wasn't with me, and neither is she with you."

Mathu quickly pointed his gun it at the man and fired. Stillwell fell down like a wet sack.

An unexpected way, indeed, Grell mused.

"The Inner Circle is dead."

"He'd sell his own grandmother for enough money," Sasha remarked with a chuckle. His twin brother shared the same sentiments and chuckled as well.

"Greed and corruption," Mathu said. "It'll forever be a part of the courts."

"Metcalf was correct in one regard, however," Savannah said. "We do need to gain control of Lukas Phantomhive. The Doctor gave us the activation phrase. We'll use the boy for us." She seemed to wander her gaze to certain darkened areas of the room for a moment, even taking a long look at where Grell was hiding. But they couldn't see him. He was only visible to whom he wished to see him. She then looked back at Mathu, who was making his way slowly up a flight of steps to the upper tiers.

"I agree, but we'll worry about the boy later. Our primary plan is engage in subterfuge. The Inner Circle's plan to usurp the Queen was ill-repose, but Lukas Phantomhive's brainwashing can work in our favour, as long as we obtain what we need. And that means…"

Mathu had not yet made it to the upper tier of the amphitheatre when he and Savannah both looked towards the darkened place when Savannah had taken a long gaze at only moments before.

"…a Reaper." Mathu smiled broadly. "Please, make your presence known to us, Reaper. No need to hide any longer. We know you're there."

Grell glanced at both in turn dumbfounded. No, they were only bluffing. They didn't know he was here. And yet, how did these humans know about Reapers? Reapers were supernatural entities only appearing to a person at the last moments of their death, and only to that person. Unless he wanted a person to see him. And they were few. He remained where he was.

"Reaper, come out," Savannah said, she said looking directly at him. She appeared to be gazing directly into his eyes, as he looked into hers. "I can feel your presence. You can not hide from me."

Grell now recalled Savannah. She was from a clan of wandering gypsies and a very powerful fortune-teller. A couple of years ago, she hooked up with Mathu, and together they concocted plans to rule the underworld of London. With her special gift, they were able to insert themselves into the highest circles. The only strange thing was Savannah refused to help Mathu with his gambling addiction. She thought it was a sin. So it was ironic that he hooked up with a fortune-teller who could help him win every time, but didn't; regardless, he was still very wealthy. As for the twin killers, they were merely hired help, who turned on the Inner Circle for their own greed and self-ambition. He knew all this from their life files.

But how could they know he was here?

Then he realized where exactly he was. This was a place of devil worship and it had demonic energies swirling within. The Inner Circle practiced not only human sacrifice here to praise their god, but it was also a gateway to the underworld, and not the London underworld. This is where Sebastian first met Ciel Phantomhive, summoned via here because of its demonic aura. Mathu Kelvin had briefly eluded to this, but could the energies here make Grell visible to them?

Death begets death.

It was then that Grell saw the Latin spirit script on the wall throughout the amphitheatre. It was carved into the wall, but done so in such a way that it could only been scene from a certain vantage point and light. He spoke Latin, but there was just too much to cipher. It was used to keep spirits from entering its borders, it also had the same effect of keeping spirits from getting out once activated.

And he felt it had been activated. If these people could see him, then could its influence make him visible to them? Indeed, it looked like it.

Had they lured him into a trap by murdering the Inner Circle members?

Most humans feared Reapers for their deathly nature. Reapers only came at the point of death. These people didn't appear frightened in the slightest. And he wondered why.

He stepped out into the open. His flamboyant dress attire - black with a blood red overcoat that he took from Madame Red after he killed her, taking as a souvenir. and his long red hair - embodied death in all its colored aspects. He faced the foursome, eying them one by one. Neither seemed shocked by his presence.

But he would not let known what he saw, the Latin script on the walls or his possible entrapment. Despite a Reaper, he was bound by spirit script like every other death entity. But he also had one thing working for him. And he could kill this humans if need be.

"Nice place you have here," Grell said conversionally. "So filled with death, almost feels like home." He smiled, showing his razor sharp teeth.

"How wonderful! An actual Reaper," Mathu said excitedly, as if said by a child who just got a new toy for the holidays.

"You've been busy I see." Grell eyed the six dead men at the centre of the circular amphitheatre floor. And he named off each of the Inner Circle members' names. This seemed to irk Mathu slightly, but only for a moment. "You know, in certain beliefs, there is a place for people like you."

Mathu smiled back with confidence. "Indeed. Nothingness. Heaven and Hell are but illusionary ideals concocted by susceptible people to retain order among the chaotic masses. I am not one of them."

"That is abundantly clear," Grell said. "So, down to the main question: You brought me here and you can see me now. Why?"

"Let's not rhetoric ourselves, we both know the power this amphitheatre possesses. It was built even before Stonehenge and holds demonic power far greater than any in comprehension."

"And you think it can hold me here? You are mistaken." Grell smiled. "No one traps a Reaper."

"No? Then you are mistaken. But you need not fear me."

"I agree. But you should fear me. Despite not being in my files," he indicated the folders he held, "I can kill you on a whim. I am a death Reaper, I have the power. All humans fear death."

"Fear is for the weak-minded and your threats are idol and worthless," Mathu said, shrugging. "You were brought here for a purpose."

"And that is? Except to show me the malice humans are capable of."

Mathu smirked. "Indeed. I need to see one of theircinematic records." He pointed at the six dead men.

Grell's eyes widened. "Their what? How do you know about cinematic records? Only the dying see their life pass before their eyes, and only Reapers can show it to them."

"Experience is knowledge. I knoweverything about them and you - Grell Sutcliff, and of course, the Reaper Academy."

It took Grell a moment to piece it together. Much like certain religions had their stories, each was based on a fact although exaggerated. No human, other than a few he had encountered over the years - certainly not these four - should know him, about cinematic records, or how to trap a Reaper within spirit script. Unless they had a certain knowledge. Unless they were…

"You're a fallen Reaper," he said, and then looked to each in turn. No wonder they feltdifferent to him. "You're all fallen Reapers!"

Mathu smiled broadly. He was the talkative of the four, but he and Savannah appeared to be on the same footing. The twins he felt were different - one Reaper split in to two bodies, but sharing the same mind. Irony for them.

Fallen Reapers, much like Fallen Angels, were Reapers "fired" for extreme measures of their duties. He had never met any fallen reapers, but he had heard of a few that had "fallen" and then were cast out for causing chaos in the human world for personal gain. And Grell had almost become one when he teamed with Madame Red in the Jack the Ripper case. But he had been punished and was put on probation, repenting.

Fallen Reapers were very dangerous, owning no allegiance to follow anyone or any rules. They killed for fun and did whatever they wanted. There was an entire department at the Academy to deal with these Reapers. But it appeared that these Reapers were good at remaining undetected. Fallen reapers find ways of inhabiting a human's body without permission from the host and live in it, burying the host's own personality deep within the subconscious; fallen reapers' own bodies stripped from them for their crimes, wandering eternally in spirit form unable to do or touch anything.

It now looked like with these four had found a way to live again.

To be continued…